I Know What I Heard
by SassyCop
Summary: Gillian is in the wrong place at the wrong time. Happy #LietoMelives day! COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

'**Lie to Me' fiction writing is addicting! I don't own anything. I'm just playing around with the characters.**

**This takes place after season one. No connection to any specific episode. Events from Blinded and Sacrifice will be referenced.**

Gillian looked up from the file she was working on. Wow. It was after 3pm. No wonder she was so stiff. She had been sitting at her desk, buried in this paperwork since 9am. Her stomach growled. It's amazing she hadn't been interrupted. It's unusual for her not to be bombarded with phone calls or visits from the staff. Cal must not be in the office. She hadn't had to referee or intervene in any crisis all day!

Gillian stood up and stretched. She walked over to the window and looked out. The sun was shining brightly. Getting out of the office sounded wonderful at the moment-no matter how hot it was. She grabbed her purse and headed down the hall. Cal's office was empty.

Heidi was the only one Gillian saw on her way out. "I'm heading out for a bite to eat Heidi. Can I get you anything?" She asked the receptionist.

"No thanks, Dr. Foster. I'm good." Heidi responded.

"If anyone needs me, I have my cell. I won't be long."

Gillian walked out the front door and felt the heat soak into her skin. It felt good to be outside. There was nothing like a walk in the DC heat and humidity to make you appreciate air conditioning. The sandwich shop was two blocks away. Gillian didn't feel the excessive heat until she got there. _'Perfect timing. I can cool off and be ready for the walk back.' _

She walked into the shop and noticed immediately how empty it was. It was after the lunch rush, but she didn't even see any employees. She turned toward the door to make sure the "closed" sign wasn't flipped and she missed it. She heard a loud voice coming from the back room. Before she could turn toward it, she was hit hard from behind. Her breath caught in her chest. She fell into a table and hit her head. She felt a sharp pain on her temple and then warmth on the side of her face. She tried to look up but she was dizzy and couldn't get her bearings. A man's voice was yelling at her. She was trying to focus but everything was blurry. She heard him say "Give me your purse! Give me your purse!" Before she could give it to him, the man grabbed her wrist and twisted it. He jerked the purse from her arm and dumped it on the floor. She tried to look up at him and he yelled "Don't look at me!" The man pointed a gun at her and yelled again "I said don't look at me!" He kicked her in the side so hard she slid a few feet. Gillian couldn't think straight. It was hard to breathe. She felt pain in her head and chest. All she wanted to do was close her eyes. She curled on her side and everything went black.

Gillian heard voices around her. She felt someone touching her. She panicked and started fighting. She felt strong hands holding her arms. She screamed.

"It's okay. It's okay. I'm here to help you. Just, calm down." It wasn't the bad guy's voice. This voice was calm and the hands grasping her were gentle. "It's okay. I'm a Police Officer. You're safe now." She managed to open her eyes and saw a gold badge.

"What happened?" She asked. Gillian tried to sit up but the pain stopped her. She was shaking.

The gold badge man said "No, no, stay put. There are medics on the way."

"I'm okay. I just need to get up." Gillian argued. The strong arms held her in place.

"I'm sorry, but you don't look okay. You're hurt. So, please, just relax a few. The medics are close. If they say you're okay, then I'll personally help you up." Gillian saw the concern on the man's face. She stopped fighting and closed her eyes, willing the pain and the shaking to go away.

Gold badge man asked her for her name. "Gillian. Gillian Foster."

"Well, Gillian Foster. The medics are here. I'm gonna move out of the way so they can take a look at you, okay?"

"Okay." Gillian opened her eyes and saw the two medics. They were asking her questions: "Do you know where you are? What is the date? What day of the week is it? Who is the president? " She answered them all, she was pretty sure, correctly. They looked at her head and wiped the blood away. The one medic said she looked as if she needed a few stitches. They put a bandage on the cut to stop the bleeding. They asked her to take a few deep breaths. She tried but it was so painful to breathe. They checked her blood pressure, her pulse, and shined a light into her eyes. She did not have a good reaction to that. She cringed from the light.

"Ms. Foster you appear to have a concussion and you need a doctor to take a look at that cut. You're ribs are, at the very least, badly bruised. You'll need some x-rays to be sure. We're going to transport you to the hospital. Okay?" The medics had a stretcher and started getting it ready for her.

Gillian hated this feeling of helplessness. It was so damned hard to keep her eyes open… She could feel herself being picked up and placed on the stretcher. She could still feel herself shaking. _'Jesus, Gillian. Get a grip.'_ She scolded herself even though she knew the shaking was just her body responding to the traumatic event.

A familiar voice said "Ms. Foster, I'm Detective Parker. I'll meet you at the hospital. I need to ask you a few questions about what happened here." Gold badge man.

"Okay." Gillian was so tired. She just wanted to sleep. She closed her eyes and gave in to the blackness.

**TBC**


	2. Chapter 2

**Still don't own them. **

Cal and Ria walked into the office at 4:30pm. "Torres, give that footage to Loker. Go through it and let me know what you get, yeah?"

"Sure boss." Ria acknowledged as she walked off toward the lab.

Cal stopped at the front desk. "Any messages Heidi?"

"Just a few, Dr. Lightman. It's been pretty slow today." Heidi replied.

"Where's Dr. Foster? She in?" Cal asked as he walked toward his partner's office.

"She should be. I know she went out around 3:00, but I'm sure she's back by now."

Cal mad his way to Gillian's office. He walked in and saw she wasn't at her desk. He walked over to see what she was working on. The Richardson file was open on her desk. Cal saw that her purse and cell phone were gone.

He went back to the front desk. "Heidi. Where was Dr. Foster going?"

"She said she was going out to grab a bite to eat. She said she had her cell phone and she would be right back." Heidi thought for a second. "I didn't see her come back. But, I was in the file room for quite a while. I assume she came back while I was away from the desk."

"Alright, then." Cal pulled out his cell phone and hit Gillian's name. The phone rang four times and then went to voice mail. "Foster. Call me when you get this. We got the footage from the school and I want you to take a look at it."

Cal went into his office. There were two phone calls he needed to return. After making the calls, he tried Gillian again. This time it went straight to voice mail. "Oi. Where are you Foster? Call me."

It was going on 5:30. _'Where the hell is Gillian?' _Cal left his office and checked in Foster's again. Everything was just as he had seen it before. _'What is she up to?' _If she had left for the day, she would have shut her computer down. '_She wouldn't have left for the day without letting someone know.' _"Loker."

Cal made his way to the lab. Loker and Torres were sitting at the computer going over the school footage. "Oi, Loker. You seen Foster?"

"Uh, not since this morning. She isn't in her office?"

"Bloody hell, if she was in her office would I be askin' you where she was?"

"Good point." Loker said with a sheepish look on his face.

"If she comes in here, tell her I'm lookin' for her." Cal said over his shoulder as he left the lab. He made his way back to his office. He checked his desk carefully, in case she had left him a note. He then checked his library for the same. He double checked his email and his phone. Nothing. _'Something's not right.'_

* * *

Detective Parker arrived at the hospital about 10 minutes after the ambulance. He made his way back through the Emergency Room. He approached the charge nurse and asked about Gillian. "She's in exam room 25. The doctor is in with her now. Do you have any more information on her? We need to get a file going."

"I only have her name. Gillian Foster. She was pretty shaky at the scene. I didn't get too far." The detective responded.

"I'll check the hospital records. See if she's been here before." The nurse offered.

"Great. Thanks." He approached the room and waited for the Doctor to come out. After a few minutes, the Doctor exited the room.

"Hey Doc. I'm Detective Parker. How is she?"

"I've asked for a CT scan of her head and x-rays of her right arm and mid section. We'll know more when I get the results. She's also going to need some stitches. What happened? " The doctor was making notes in Gillian's file.

"I'm not sure just yet. It looks like she walked in on a robbery. Two employees were found shot to death in the back room. I'm not sure why the suspect left _her_ there."

"Lucky lady. You can try to talk to her if you want. We gave her some medication for the pain, so she'll be a little groggy."

Detective Parker went into Gillian's room. "Ms. Foster?" He went a little closer to her. "Ms. Foster?" No response. He saw the right side of her face. There was a nasty bruise forming that went the length of it. He pulled up a stool and sat down. _'Damn. She is an extremely attractive woman. Jesus Noah. Could you be more unprofessional?'_

He leaned in closer and softly said her name again. Gillian slowly opened her eyes.

It was hard to focus. The pain had gotten bearable since they gave her the Percocet. But it sure wasn't helping her focus. She heard the familiar voice. "Gold badge man." She mumbled.

"Pardon me?" Detective Parker asked.

"What?" Gillian asked. She felt so tired. She couldn't focus. She closed her eyes.

"I'll check back in a bit." Detective Parker said, basically to himself. Gillian Foster was not going to be able to help him right now. He quietly left the room.

The nurse was on her way in as he was coming out. "I found her in our hospital records. _Dr._ Gillian Foster was brought here 4 months ago after being attacked. She must have a habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Poor woman. There is an emergency contact listed. Alec Foster, her husband."

"Hm. She's not wearing a wedding ring. I wonder if it was taken by the suspect." _'It figures she's married.' "_Can I have the contact numbers?"

Detective Parker went out into the lobby. He tried the home number listed. A recording came on notifying him that the number had been disconnected. He tried the cell phone number.

"Hello?" A male voice answered.

"Hello. This is Detective Parker with the Metro PD. Is this Alec Foster?"

"Yes. What can I do for you?" _'Shit. Why are the cops calling me?'_

"Mr. Foster we have your wife here in the emergency room at DC General. She's been hurt."

Alec was high as a kite and didn't think it would be wise for him to head to the hospital to be with his, soon to be, ex wife. "We're separated. I don't think she's going to want to see me." _'As much as I don't want that to be true'_ Alec thought. "You should call someone else."

"You were the only one listed as an emergency contact." Detective Parker said.

Alec felt a sting in his heart. He knew who Gillian would want to be called. "You should call her partner. Dr. Cal Lightman. The office number is 202-432-5483."

"Thank you Mr. Foster."

'_So the pretty lady is separated.'_ Detective Parker called the number.

* * *

It was now after 6pm. Cal was sitting at his desk. He called Foster's cell again. No answer. The main company number rang. Normally he wouldn't consider answering this line, especially after hours. But something told him to pick up this call. "Lightman Group."

"This is Detective Parker from the Metro PD. I'm looking for Dr. Cal Lightman."

"Well you've got him." Cal felt his stomach flip.

"Dr. Lightman I'm in the emergency room at DC General with Dr. Foster. She's been hurt-"

Cal shot out of his chair. "What happened? Is she okay?"

"Right now, she's fine. They are going to run some tests-" before he could finish, he was interrupted.

"I'm on my way." Cal hung up and grabbed his keys. He was out the door in less than a minute.

* * *

Detective Parker felt like he had heard the name Lightman before. He grabbed his laptop from his car and pulled up his internet. He googled 'The Lightman Group.' _'Oh yeah.'_ The deception experts.

He googled Dr. Gillian Foster. The article that had run in the paper when the Jenkins copycat had been caught came up. That's why her name was familiar. She was attacked by the copycat. That's what the hospital visit four months ago was for…

**TBC**


	3. Chapter 3

**Don't own them. Still just playing!**

**This chapter was a little tougher… I hope it turned out all right… Please let me know what you think. **

Cal poked his head in the lab on his way out. "Foster's at DC General. I'm headin' over." He didn't wait for a response, he headed to the door.

Loker came running after him with Torres right on his heels. "Is she okay? What happened?" Loker shouted.

"Don't know. Let you know when I find out." Cal yelled over his shoulder as he pushed through the stairwell door.

He made his way to the parking garage. He looked for Gillian's car. It was parked in the same space it had been this morning. _'So, no car accident. Good.' _What the hell could have had happened to her? He should have probably let the detective finish a sentence. Maybe then he would have some idea what to expect. At least the hospital was close.

Cal went straight to the ER desk when he got to the hospital. The nurse said she would find out where Gillian was and let him know. It felt like an eternity as he waited to hear something from someone. He couldn't sit, so he paced back in forth in front of the desk.

Eventually, a man in khaki trousers and a sport coat came through the door. Cal knew it was the detective right away. He saw the gun and the gold badge on his side. Cal approached him.

"Dr. Lightman?" Detective Parker extended his hand. They shook hands.

"That's me. How is she? What happened?" Cal was feeling impatient. He needed to see her, to know she was all right.

"Come with me. I'll take you to the exam room. They took her to x-ray a little while ago and they haven't brought her back yet." Detective Parker advised.

As they walked to the room, the detective explained to Cal that Gillian had apparently walked into the sandwich shop during an armed robbery. Two employees were found shot to death in the back office. Gillian had been found on the floor in the front of the shop.

Cal could barely think straight. He had so many questions. _'A robbery? Two people dead? Had she been shot?' _Cal had to restrain himself to allow the detective to continue.

Detective Parker caught the worried look on Cal's face. He quickly explained that Gillian had not been shot but had been roughed up pretty badly. She had been unconscious when the police arrived on the scene. He hadn't been able to speak with her yet to get any information. "The shop has video equipment but we haven't been able to get into it. Password protected and the people who know the password are currently in no shape to provide it. Our tech people are on it. As soon as we can get that, we'll, hopefully, know exactly what happened."

"Thanks for letting me know. I know you didn't have to tell me all that. I appreciate it." Cal was grateful to the detective for being open with him about the case.

"I'm familiar with your work. I know you're a professional. Plus, I knew if I wasn't honest with you, you'd know it." The detective gave him a smile and a knowing nod.

Cal liked this guy. He was all right. At least some disgruntled old timer wasn't on the case. Cal had worked with his fair share of those types in the local Police Departments. "You know, if you want, I could take a look at the footage when you get it." Secretly, he wanted to do something to help catch the bastard that had hurt Gillian.

"I just might take you up on that." The detective looked genuinely pleased that Cal had offered.

The two men sat in silence for several minutes.

Cal could feel his heart beating in his ears. He needed to know what her injuries were before he saw her. "How bad is she?" He asked the detective.

"She has a concussion, and a pretty fierce bruise on the side of her face with a gash that they stitched up. Her forearm is swollen and bruised. The doctor said she had bruised ribs at the very least. She was having trouble breathing because of the chest pain. They put her on some oxygen to help with that." The detective thought for a second and then added "she wasn't real happy with the oxygen. She was groggy and out of it but she still kept pulling it off. I'm guessing she has a stubborn streak?" The detective grinned.

"Oi. That's an understatement! She does not like to be taken care of. Tough one, she is." Cal said that full of pride. He had always been impressed with Gillian's strength. His mind went back to the copycat attack. He remembered how scared she had been when he got to her. How she struggled against him until she realized who it was. Then she had tried to pull away, to be brave. He hadn't let her. He had held on, probably more for his own reassurance than hers. What other woman could be attacked and then, within hours, be back at the lab facing the man responsible for setting her up? Secretly, he wished he had been able to take her home and take care of her that night. But, Alec had still been in the picture then. If he knew Gillian, she would take the same stubborn attitude with this.

The door to the room opened. A nurse pushed Gillian through on a stretcher. Cal saw her face. Luckily, her eyes were closed and she didn't see his shocked reaction. Her face was swollen. The traces of blue were just surfacing. By tomorrow, the deep purple would set in. There was a bandage near her temple, presumably covering the stitched up gash. Her right arm had a soft cast that went from her elbow to her hand. She still had the oxygen tube under her nose. She did not look comfortable. Cal felt a tug at his heart. _'What kind of animal could do that to such a beautiful creature?'_

The nurse pulled the stretcher into place and locked the wheels. Gillian opened her eyes as soon as she realized she was no longer moving. She tried to take a deep breath and winced. Cal approached her.

"Hey love." He said it as softly as he could.

Gillian perked up. "Cal?"

"Right here." He moved into her field of vision. "I know I said before you looked good in black and blue, but there are other ways to accomplish that, you know?"

He was rewarded with a small, and obviously painful, laugh. "No… no, making me laugh."

"Sorry love. No more laughing." Cal gently took her left hand in his. He needed to feel her skin, her pulse, to know she was truly okay. She gave his hand a slight squeeze and then shut her eyes.

Gillian could not believe how happy she felt that Cal was here. She could feel herself becoming emotional. Like a child who gets hurt and then cries harder when they see the person they feel the safest with. Cal was safety to her. She hated to be vulnerable, but if it was going to be in front of someone… She had to close her eyes for fear she might lose a tear.

Cal waited. He knew she was trying to quell her emotions.

Detective Parker saw the closeness between Dr. Foster and Dr. Lightman. It touched him. It also sent a pang of jealousy through him. _'What the hell Noah? This woman is under your skin and you don't even know her.'_ It was obvious they had a special relationship. _'Just how special is it?'_ He hated to interrupt, but he needed any information Gillian Foster might be able to provide. "Excuse me? Dr. Foster? I hate to do this, but, I really need to talk to you about what happened."

**TBC**


	4. Chapter 4

**Still only playing with them! This chapter is a little shorter. Not where I had wanted to stop, but it would have gone on forever! So…**

Gillian let go of Cal's hand as she started to talk. He wasn't upset that she let go. He knew why. He saw the mask go up. If she held onto him it would be harder to disconnect from what she had to talk about.

She explained how she had come to the shop and seen no one and how she checked the closed sign. She heard a voice behind her…

"Before I could look around, I felt something hit me…_hard_ on my back. It knocked the wind out of me. I fell into a table and hit my head." Gillian paused.

Detective Parker was listening intently and jotting down notes in his notebook. "You're doing fine Dr. Foster."

"Please. Call me Gillian." She closed her eyes for a second. "I remember hitting the floor and feeling like the room was spinning. I couldn't get my bearings. I heard a man's voice saying for me to give him my purse. Before I could even react to that, I felt him twist my arm and pull." She looked down at her arm and up to her shoulder. _'The same arm.'_ For a second, Gillian fell back 4 months and it was the copycat attack that was at the forefront of her thoughts.

Cal saw the slightest flash of fear. He knew where she had gone. But, just as quickly, she tightened her jaw and the resolve was back. He felt the anger in himself. _'She's tough. She shouldn't have to be. Damn it.' _

"You're doing great Gillian. Are you okay to keep going?" Detective Parker was trying to make sure he didn't cause her any further upset by pushing too hard.

"I'm fine." '_Let's just get through this before I lose it. Please.' _

"Okay. You said you felt him pull your arm. What do you remember happening next?" Detective Parker nudged her forward.

"He dumped everything in my purse out." Gillian suddenly felt like something didn't make sense. She closed her eyes and tried to picture it in her mind. "The voice was different." She said as she opened her eyes.

"What do you mean the voice was different?" Detective Parker was confused.

Gillian kept talking almost as if she was on auto pilot and had not heard his question. "I tried to look up so I could see him but everything was so blurry and I couldn't focus. All I remember seeing was the gun. The other man said _'don't look at me!'_ and I wanted to look away but I just kept staring at the gun. Then he kicked me…"

"Wait a minute. Did you say the _'other man'_? Are you saying there were two suspects?" Detective Parker was definitely confused. They had never considered two suspects. Maybe she is just mixed up from the head injury.

"Yes. I heard two different voices." Gillian said with certainty.

"Did you see two suspects?" Detective Parker asked.

"No…I don't know. I don't know what I saw. Nothing was clear. But, I _know_ what I heard. There were two suspects." Gillian knew she wasn't imagining things. She knew there were two voices no matter what she saw. She trusted her ears. Cal was the visual one. She was the listener.

"Okay, okay. So we're looking for two suspects then." Detective Parker was not going to argue with her. The video would clear that up when they could get a hold of it.

Gillian saw the doubt on his face. He didn't believe her. "Detective Parker I never forget a voice. _I know what I heard_. And if I hear those voices again, I will know them."

"Okay. I believe you Gillian." She was feisty and extremely certain of herself. '_That is so hot.'_

Detective Parker switched gears. "What can you tell me about the gun?"

"It was a black, semi-automatic hand gun. I can't give you better than that." _'It was larger than life when it was pointed in my face.' _They had pointed a gun at her. It still seemed surreal. She could feel her composure starting to fade. She tried to take a deep breath hoping to calm herself, but that backfired on her as she felt pain radiate from her ribs through to her back. She gritted her teeth and tensed up.

Cal put his hand on Gillian's. He took his other hand and started stroking it up and down her forearm in an attempt to help her relax.

"I'm sorry." Gillian felt embarrassed that her body was making this so difficult on her.

"It's okay. No apology necessary. I'm sorry I have to make you go through this now. Unfortunately you are our only witness." Detective Parker regretted saying that as soon as it left his lips.

"The only witness? How is that? No one else was there? Where were the employees?" Gillian hoped he wasn't implying what she thought he was.

"Don't lie to me detective. I'll know." Gillian was afraid to hear what he was going to say.

"There were two employees in the back room. They were both shot and died at the scene." You didn't have to be an expert to see the surprise and fear that now showed on Gillian's face.

"Oh, my God." Gillian felt sick.

**TBC**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here we are again. Thanks for the lovely reviews. I hope this isn't moving too slowly. I'm finding I'm obsessed with details… I'm working on that. I want figure it out- before I bore everyone to tears!**

The doctor had come in right after Gillian had been told about the two employees being killed. Detective Parker slipped out the door to give her some privacy. He definitely noticed the fact that Gillian had latched on to Cal's hand. He couldn't help but wonder exactly what their relationship was. It was definitely more than partners.

The doctor explained to Gillian that they wanted her to stay in the hospital overnight for observation. When she didn't object, Cal knew she was in pain. He wasn't sure if it was more physical or mental but he could see it on her face.

"We'll have you transferred up to a room as soon as we can. We need to get your pain managed. I have to be honest, sleeping will not be easy. You need to remain upright as much as possible to ease the pressure and swelling in the deep tissue bruises on your back. But, you do have two fractured ribs. Luckily, they are both on your left side. It's important that you lay in such a way that the pressure is on that side. I know that sounds crazy but putting pressure on the side where the fractures are actually helps with your breathing. Once we get you moved, we'll have your attending nurse help get you settled. Do you have any questions for me right now?"

Gillian was lost in her thoughts. She wasn't really listening to what the doctor was saying. It was easier to stay composed and be strong before she knew that two other people had been there, and not come out alive. They had pointed a gun at her. How was it that she was still here? Why was she still here?

"Gill?" Cal could see that she was in shock. "Gill?" Cal was concerned. He gently squeezed her hand and put his other on her shoulder. "Hey love."

Gillian looked up at him "I'm sorry. I guess this is a lot to take in. My brain just feels fuzzy." Gillian tried to explain away her thoughts. Cal saw through it. He knew what she had been thinking about.

The doctor, however, said that was normal and it would take a few days for things to become clearer for her. He then left the room.

"Hey. You doin' okay?" Cal was looking at her with such concern.

"Yeah. I'm really tired. And honestly, I'm a little freaked out."

Detective Parker knocked softly as he walked back into the room. "I'm gonna head out. We're doing a debriefing back at HQ and I need to be there. Do either of you have any questions for me?"

"Where is my purse?" Gillian suddenly thought about her belongings.

"We found your purse with a few personal items, lipstick, a pen... What else was in it?"

"My wallet, my phone, my keys…" Gillian closed her eyes. _'Great.'_

"I'm sorry. I'll send a unit by to check your house. If they have your keys…" Detective Parker didn't bother finishing that sentence.

"That won't be an issue. My ID still has my previous address on it. I guess procrastination does occasionally have its benefits. The old house is on the market and sitting empty right now. My cell phone on the other hand, has no addresses in it, but it has every number to every person that means anything to me programmed in." Gillian could feel the pain in her head getting worse. The pain meds were definitely wearing off. She closed her eyes.

"We're putting a trap and trace on your phone. If it's still on and they still have it we can triangulate their location. Do me a favor and hold off until morning to cancel any credit cards you may have had in your wallet. Occasionally a thief will use one and we can use that as a means to track them down." He paused. Gillian looked so defeated _'and yet so beautiful. Stop thinking like that. She's your victim_.' "Okay, well, the doctor said they're keeping you over night. I'll stop by in the morning and check in with you." Detective Parker shook Cal's hand and gave Gillian a sad smile and a nod of his head and then he left the room.

Cal stood beside Gillian. She was still holding on to his hand. He had no desire to break the contact. He could see how uncomfortable she was on her face. He felt his heart drop.

* * *

The nurse came and took Gillian to her room. Cal went to the lobby to make a few calls. He spoke with Loker. Evidently, the incident had been on the evening news. Gillian's name wasn't mentioned so he had no idea that she was the witness they were talking about. Loker said he would call Torres and let her know what happened.

Cal's next call was to Emily. "Hey love."

"Hey, Dad. Are you coming home any time soon? You do know it's after 11:00 right? Did you even have dinner?"

"Easy, Em! I've been a little tied up. I'm at the hospital-"

"Oh my gosh! Are you okay? What happened?" Emily's voice went up sharply.

"_I'm_ fine love. I'm here with Gillian."

"Gillian! Is she okay?" Cal could hear the worry in Emily's voice.

"She will be. She walked in on something, wrong place at the wrong time…" How was he supposed to explain this to Emily?

"What's wrong with her?" Emily was concerned.

"She got hurt. She's pretty banged up. I'll explain it all to you later. They're keeping her overnight just to be sure everything's okay.",

"Oh my gosh. Do you need me to do anything? Can I come see her?" Emily felt like she should do something.

"No love. There's nothin' you can do right now. I just wanted to check in with you and let you know I would be late getting home. I'm gonna stay for a while, at least until they get her settled."

"You should stay the night there with her dad. I'll be fine."

"I'll see how it goes. I don't want to embarrass her." Cal loved that his daughter wanted him to stay with Gillian. _'If she only knew how much I wanted to be with that woman all the time…'_

"Okay. Tell Gill I love her and I hope she feels better. Love you."

"Love you too, Em."

Cal hung up. How did he get such a wonderful daughter?

* * *

Cal made his way up to Gillian's room. He quietly went in and walked over to her. She was sitting up and was twisted to her left. Her knees were curled up and she had pillows all around her. Her eyes were closed but the expression on her face was anything but peaceful. Cal felt his heart sink again. He couldn't stand to see her in pain. He would give anything to be alone in a room with the no good bastards responsible for this.

He stood by Gillian's bed. He reached out and touched her shoulder. She flinched and opened her eyes. Fear. "I'm sorry love. I didn't mean to startle you."

Gillian felt the touch and startled. Her eyes flew open. She saw Cal and went to sigh in relief. That wasn't a good idea. Pain rifled through her chest and she stiffened. "It's okay. I'm okay."

"Well, that's a lie."

"Seriously, Cal? You're reading me now?" She looked at him with a small, pained grin on her face.

"No training in micro expressions needed to figure that one out. Any moron could see it." He gave her a grin in return.

The nurse came in. "I've got some pain meds for you and a little something to help you sleep."

"I'm all for pain meds, but why do I need something on top of that to help me sleep?" Gillian did not like the idea of being knocked out. She knew pain meds would make her sleepy and groggy, but she had no desire to lose herself completely.

"Dr. Foster, you're hurt pretty badly. You need to rest. The pain meds take the edge off but sleep is not going to be easy. This will just make it so you can get a solid 2 to 3 hours of complete rest."

"I don't want to be knocked out. Can't you just give me the pain medicine?" Gillian was getting a little worked up.

Cal knew she was afraid to be unconscious and vulnerable. "It's okay love. I'm gonna stay here. Take the drugs. I'll be here the whole time."

"Cal. You can't stay here. What about Emily?"

"I already spoke with her. She insisted I stay with you. She sends her love." Cal pulled over the reclining chair and positioned it next to her bed. He sat down. "I'm here for the night love. Take the drugs."

Gillian gave him the sweetest 'thank you' look he had ever seen.

The nurse smiled at Cal and walked over to Gillian's IV. "You're a lucky lady. My husband would never sleep in one of these chairs for me! Okay, you'll feel some heat when this goes in and then you should be out in a few minutes."

Gillian gave Cal an apologetic look after the nurse's comment. He just smiled at her. As the nurse left the room, Cal got up and stood close to Gillian. She looked up at him "thank you."

"No thanks necessary. I've got you love. Just rest now." He kissed the side of her head.

Gillian felt light headed. She closed her eyes and slipped off to sleep. Cal settled in on the recliner. There's pretty much nothing he wouldn't do for this woman. He sat for a long time and watched her sleep only closing his eyes when he was sure she was sleeping deeply.

**TBC**


	6. Chapter 6

**Still having fun and owning nothing. Keep in mind, I ship Cal/Gillian. But, I do love obstacles! ;-)**

Gillian had woken twice during the night. The first time was a round 3:30. Cal heard a thump that woke him up. He opened his eyes to see Gillian huddled on the floor on her knees trying to catch her breath. Her gown had fallen open at her shoulders and he could see the bruises on her back. They were bad. He had helped to get her to the bathroom and waited by the door until she finished. He got her settled back in bed. He stroked her hair until she fell back to sleep. He sat and watched her. Her sleep was fitful. She had woken again at 5:00. Unable to get comfortable, she was frustrated. Cal had gotten the nurse and asked if Gillian could have something else for her pain. By 5:30 she was asleep again.

* * *

It had been a busy, not so restful, morning in Gillian's hospital room. The nurses had come in to check on her at shift change and explained that her primary care physician was in the building and would be in to see her soon. Gillian had made Cal leave around 8am. She told him to go home, take a shower, and check on Emily.

Gillian was lost in thought when Detective Parker entered her room just before 9am. "Gillian?"

She looked in his direction. "Good morning, Detective Parker."

"Are you feeling any better this morning?" The bruise on her face had gotten darker since he had seen her the night before.

"Yes. A few hours of sleep can do great things. Any progress on the case?"

Detective Parker gave her a skeptical look. He was no deception expert, but he was pretty sure she wasn't feeling any better. "Not as much as I would have liked. There were two boot prints found, no fingerprints, nothing left behind. The boot prints were from two different kinds of boots and didn't match either of the victims. So, we are definitely looking at two suspects. But, you all ready knew that." He wished he had more positive news for her. "Your phone did ping off two cell towers in the area between 4:30 and 5:30pm yesterday. It's hit nothing since though."

"Which means they shut it off, right?" Gillian didn't know if she felt glad the phone was off or mad because now they couldn't use it to find the suspects.

"Yes. Most likely." Detective Parker walked over toward the window in the room. "Did you think of anything else last night that might help?"

"I wasn't thinking much last night. They knocked me out. I keep going over it in my mind but…" she paused to move a little bit and take the pressure off her back "the only thing that's sticking in my mind is, why am I still here? Why didn't they kill me?"

"I don't know Gillian. But, I'm glad they didn't." He had a very warm smile plastered on his face. _'Jesus did you just say that out loud?'_

Gillian felt her cheeks warming. "Um, well, thank you." She looked away from him.

"I am so sorry. That was inappropriate. Please forgive me." Detective Parker flashed shame.

"It's okay, really." Gillian smiled. _'Is he flirting with me?'_

After a minute of silence, Detective Parker was grasping for somewhere to go in the conversation. He was completely embarrassed. Although, she didn't have a negative reaction to his statement and he was pretty sure she was blushing. "I was wondering about their motives also."

"Why would they kill the employees and then leave me there? It doesn't add up. They had all ready killed two people, what's one more at that point?" Gillian went into professional mode. "I think maybe the employees knew the killers. Don't they have a hold up alarm there? Why wouldn't they have activated it?"

"You're right. We're pulling everything we can find on the owner and the employee. It does stand to reason that they would have hit the alarm for a robbery." Detective Parker was impressed. _'Attractive, sweet, intelligent…I should get out of here before I say something else stupid.'_

"Well, Gillian, I'm gonna get out of here and let you rest. Before I go, I need to get a few pictures of your injuries."

"Pictures? You have to take pictures of me?" Gillian wasn't too keen on that.

"Evidence. We'll take some today. We'll take them again 3 to 4 days from now. The bruises are usually at their prime by then. We'll take more pictures 10 to 12 days out. It's to show the progression. It proves the injuries were caused by this particular incident." He hated to make her feel uncomfortable.

"I understand." _'I'm definitely not happy about it though.' _

"I'll get the nurse so she can take the pictures." Detective Parker left the room. He returned a minute later. He took out his digital camera. "She'll be right in. In the meantime, let me get pictures of your face and arm."

Gillian sat still while Detective Parker took the pictures of her face. He gently helped her get the soft cast off her arm. He couldn't believe how soft her skin was. He took the photos and then carefully helped her get the cast back on. He hated to have to step away from her. _'What is it with this woman? She makes me feel like a school boy with my first crush.' _

Gillian was watching the detective closely. Dilated pupils. His touch was so gentle, just like she remembered from the day before. _'He's easy on the eyes, too. Oh, my God, Gillian. What are you doing?'_

The nurse came in. Detective Parker turned away while she exposed first, Gillian's back and then her rib cage. The nurse gave the camera back to the detective and left the room.

"Like I said, I'll need to see you in a few days to get some more pictures of your injuries. Here is my card. My office number is on the front. I'm putting my cell number on the back. I need you to call me when you get a number I can reach you at." Detective Parker was keeping everything as business like as possible.

"I will. Thank you." Gillian smiled at him. He returned the smile and then walked out of the room.

* * *

Detective Parker got into the elevator. He looked down at the camera in his hand. He turned it on and scrolled through the pictures that had just been taken. Gillian Foster was beautiful. He felt weird looking at the pictures that had been taken even though he knew it was his job. He looked at the photos of her back. He had never seen bruises like that, and he had seen a lot in his 22 year career. Her rib cage wasn't much better. He also noticed what a nice figure she had. Slender waist, toned stomach… Good God. He turned off the camera. He needed to focus on the case and get his mind off Gillian Foster.

* * *

Gillian felt so tired. She didn't want to go back to sleep right now. She knew she was being silly, but she didn't feel completely safe in this hospital room by herself. She couldn't wait to get home, bolt her door and pull the blinds. She knew it was only a matter of time before everything that happened caught up with her and her emotions would spill over. She didn't need an audience for that.

Gillian had just closed her eyes for a second when she heard someone come in the room. She opened her eyes to see a freshly showered Cal followed by a very worried Emily. Cal was carrying a bag she recognized as being hers. "I went by your place and grabbed some clothes for you to wear out of here."

Gillian smiled. "Thank you. I can't wait to get out of this gown."

Emily stopped short and stared at Gillian. "Oh my God, Gill."

"I'm okay Em. It looks worse than it is." Gillian said quickly.

"That's not entirely true, love. It is bad. You're gonna need a lot of time to heal up from this one." Cal gave Gillian a serious look letting her know he wasn't going to entertain her brave front.

Before Gillian could argue, her doctor came in. "Gillian, you don't look so good."

"Well, thanks. I guess we have a consensus here." Gillian replied sarcastically as she glared at Cal.

The doctor laughed. "I've looked through your chart. These really are some pretty serious injuries. I would suggest you spend a few more days in the hospital, but knowing you like I do, you would fight me on that."

"That is true. You know me well. I just want to go home."

"I knew you would say that. So, in order for me to release you, I need some assurances." The doctor stood next to her and started examining the bruises on her face.

"Okay. What do you need?" Gillian was ready to come up with whatever it was so she could get out of there.

"You are going to need someone with you for at least the next four to five days. I know you think you can take care of yourself and I don't doubt that after a week or so that will be true."

Gillian's eyes got big and Cal saw a flash of anger. "Wait a minute! I don't need a babysitter. I'm a grown woman." Gillian argued. She did not like the way this was going.

"Yes. A grown woman with a head injury, fractured ribs, a severely sprained right arm, and some horrid deep tissue bruises on her back." The doctor had his eyes locked on Gillian. "I know you are strong and I know you are stubborn, but you need help with this."

Emily spoke up. "Gill, I don't go back to school for another week. If you wouldn't mind the company, I would be glad to help you out."

Gillian was surprised very touched by Emily's offer. "Em, I can't ask you to do that. You would be bored to death at my house."

"Then you can stay at our house, right Dad? I can stay with you during day and when dad gets home I can go out with my friends. Plus, both of us will be there at night." Emily was nodding her head and smiling. She glanced at Cal. _'Chime in any time, Dad.'_

"I think that's perfect." Cal put his arm around Emily. They both smiled.

"I would be satisfied with that. You agree to it Gillian and I'll get your discharge papers ready." The doctor raised his eyebrows in question.

Gillian closed her eyes. This was not what she wanted. "Why do I feel like I've just been had?"

Emily smiled a big smile. "So, it's settled!" She and Cal exchanged knowing looks. "Let's get you out of here!"

**TBC**


	7. Chapter 7

**Really long one! Got a little carried away. I'm finding I do that when I get going with a Cal/Gillian moment. Hope I'm not too off on the characters…**

The doctor had given her sheets and sheets of discharge information. Gillian was so tired she had only really caught half of it. Cal and Emily had gotten her into Cal's car and driven her to their house. They settled her in Cal's recliner which was much more comfortable than the hospital bed. Emily had been ready with numerous fluffy pillows. Gillian had been given a dose of pain meds before they left the hospital. By the time she was in the recliner she couldn't hold her eyes open.

Cal had waited until Gillian was asleep to leave. He told Emily to call the second she woke up. He had a number of things to get done. Prescriptions and a new phone for Gillian, and he needed to go by the office and check in on things. He got the prescriptions first. Then he went to get a new cell phone. He took the cell phone to the office and plugged it in to charge. He found Loker and Torres and told them about what had happened. Before he left, he took Gillian's new phone and synced it with the information on her computer. Now she would have the new phone with all her contact information. He had two more quick stops to make before he headed home.

* * *

Cal's phone started ringing right as he pulled in the driveway. It was Emily. Gillian was awake. Perfect timing. Cal came in with his arms full. Emily greeted him at the door and took a few of the bags.

"Aw, Dad! These flowers are beautiful. She'll love them. Your timing is perfect. She just woke up and she isn't looking too good."

They took the bags into the kitchen. Cal grabbed Gillian's pain medicine and a bottle of water and headed into the living room.

"Hey love. Here's your pain medicine." He handed her the pills and the open bottle of water. He could see the pain on her face.

"Thanks Cal." She took the pills and swallowed them gratefully. She sighed and closed her eyes.

"I hope you're hungry. I picked up some of your favorite things." Cal grinned at her.

Gillian smiled at him but it was a pained smile. "My stomach isn't feeling like it wants anything right now. I'm afraid it might be rejected."

"You have to eat something Gill. Some food in that skinny tum of yours will help stave off the upset from the meds." Cal took off toward the kitchen.

Emily passed him as she brought the flowers he had bought for Gillian out to her. "Look Gill. Aren't these pretty? Dad picked them out, all by himself." She sat them on the table near the recliner.

Gillian looked at the flowers and felt tears behind her eyes. She looked down to try to hide them. "They're beautiful. He has good taste."

"Are you okay Gill?" Emily saw the threatening tears.

"Yeah. I'm good." Gillian looked up and smiled.

Emily headed back into the kitchen. "I showed Gill the flowers and now she looks like she's going to cry."

"It's not the flowers, love. I think Gill needs a little time to come to grips with everything. I'm sure she wanted to go home so she could let out all the emotions she's been holding in since this happened. She's private like that." Cal thought for a second. "Em, why don't you call up one of your girlfriends and hit the mall or something? I'm planning on being here the rest of the day. Maybe if we give her some privacy she can work some stuff through, you know?"

"Okay. How long should I stay gone?" Emily wasn't sure.

Cal reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He handed her some money. "How about do some shopping first and then dinner and a movie?" He smiled at her.

"I think I can do that!" Emily smiled and was off.

Cal grabbed the orange slushie and the pudding he had picked up at the store. He took them both in to Gillian. As he came into the room, he saw her staring blankly at the flowers on the table. _'It's only a matter of time before her dam bursts. And I'm going to be there for her, whether she likes it or not.'_

Cal sat the pudding and the slushie on the table. He pulled up a chair and sat close to Gillian.

She looked at the slushie cup and smiled. "Orange?"

"Isn't that your favorite?"

"Yes. Thank you, Cal." She was still smiling as she shifted to reach for the cup up with her left hand. Just as she touched the cup she felt the pain shoot through her ribs and into her back. "Agh! Damnit!"

Cal jumped up and gently took her hand. He held on until she was relaxed and breathing normal again. He saw the frustration on her face and the tears welling up. He sat back down and purposely looked away from her. She did what he expected and pulled herself together. They sat in silence for several minutes.

Gillian spoke first. Her voice was quiet and fragile. "I hate this. I can't do anything."

"I'm sorry love. I wish I could make the pain go away." He saw the tears. She couldn't hide when she couldn't even move. Gillian Foster was used to being strong for everyone else. She was also very good at hiding any of her own hurt or pain. But this was more than she could handle on her own and she wasn't willing to admit that yet.

"Please don't, Cal." Gillian couldn't handle the sympathy.

"Gill. For a change, _you_ need _me_. Let me be there for you." He had scooted back into her space. "I want to do this. I want to help you."

"I don't want help! I want to take care of myself!" He saw fear in her eyes. He could see her anger building. He needed to calm her down before…

Gillian jerked up out of the chair. Just as quickly the pain grabbed her and sent her to her knees. Cal was able to get his arms around her hips as she fell, and he steadied her. She was crying hard now and trying her hardest to push him away with her one good arm. It was a futile effort and when she realized he wasn't budging, she grabbed her injured arm and sank in on herself. Her head came to rest against his chest. He very carefully put his arms around her. He wanted her to feel him there, but he was so afraid of making the pain worse. He leaned against the recliner keeping his arms around her, and let her cry.

They sat like that for a long while. Cal could have stayed right there forever. He felt the tension draining from her. "I'm sorry." She tried to sit up and couldn't.

"Don't apologize. You've nothing to be sorry for."

"You knew this was going to happen didn't you?" Gillian was shaking her head. She was disgusted with herself. "That's why you sent Emily off?"

"I had some idea, yeah. I thought you might feel better about it if you had less of an audience." Cal was rubbing small circles very gently on her lower back. "Are you comfortable?"

"Surprisingly, yes. This is the most comfortable I've felt since I woke up on the floor yesterday." Gillian thought for a second. "Are you uncomfortable?" She tried again to move.

"No, no, stay put. I'm perfect." _'If you only knew how perfectly comfortable I am right at this moment.'_

There was silence for a few minutes. Gillian finally spoke. "I was so scared. When I saw that gun pointing at me… I froze."

Cal didn't say a word. He was afraid if he interrupted she would retreat and he knew she needed to get this out.

"I don't like how this feels. It's like I'm not safe and I don't know how to fix it. I keep trying to tell myself that I'm fine. I lived through it. The worst is over." She paused. "I've been telling myself that for months. First it was losing Sophie, then the problems with Alec. The copycat…" She tensed up at the thought of that attack. "The divorce…" She tried to take a deep breath and Cal felt her shake in anticipation of the pain. He held on a little tighter. "I can't take anymore Cal. I don't think I have anything left in me to deal with this."

"It's okay love. You're scared and you're hurting. But, you're not alone. You just have to lean on the people around you until you get your feet back under you. You can get through this. You will get through this." Cal couldn't read her while she was leaning on his chest. He couldn't see if what he said was the right thing or not.

"I'm not good at that Cal. I don't trust…" she stopped. She didn't trust most people. But she did trust Cal.

"Most people?" He nailed it. She nodded. "But, you do know you can trust me, right?" Right again.

"Yes. I know I can trust you." Gillian smiled. Where would she be if not for him? Their friendship and their business was what she held onto through all this stuff over the last year or so. It's what kept her sane.

"Well, then. You start there." Cal regretfully took his arms out from around her. He helped her to sit against the recliner. "If your comfy right here then now's a good time to put the ice pack on your back. I'll go and get it."

"Ice pack?" _'What ice pack?'_

Cal laughed. "I knew you weren't listening to the doctors instructions! It's a good thing I was paying very close attention!"

He returned to the room with the ice pack, a bath towel, and a blanket. He placed the towel on her back and carefully put the ice pack against it. Gillian winced at the pressure and then relaxed once it was settled. Cal sat behind her holding the ice pack in place. Gillian started shivering. He pulled the blanket he had grabbed over her.

"What's the purpose of this ice pack? Besides freezing me half to death?" Gillian felt shivers running through her body.

"To help with the inflammation. We'll do this once every 4 to 6 hours through tomorrow. Then the warm compresses start. I imagine those will feel better."

"Cal?" He could hear the smile in her lips.

"Yes Gill?"

"Can you reach my slushie?"

Cal let out a little laugh. "Of course." He got the cup and put it in front of her, "You're freezing but you're still gonna drink that thing?"

"It's not good once it melts. Can't let a good slushie go to waste."

Cal smiled at her. So many quirky little things about her made him smile…

**TBC**


	8. Chapter 8

**Technical chapter-it had to be done! Got a little confusing for me trying to type it. I hope it makes sense. I read over it a million times. Eventually, the words all run together! Point out any mistakes, please.**

**Sure wish I owned them. But, alas…**

Cal slept on the couch. He told himself it was in case Gillian needed him. Truthfully, it was because he needed to be near her. He had gotten up a few times during the night to give her pain medicine, help her get to the bathroom and put the ice pack on her back. She wasn't fond of the ice pack, but it did seem to help. Cal liked it because after he took the ice pack off, he sat behind her and pulled her close to help her recover some of the lost body heat.

Cal had woken at 6:30. He went and got a shower. On his way downstairs, he tapped on Emily's door. He opened it up and stuck his head in. She looked up at him. "I'm leaving Em. I'm opening your door so you can hear Gill if she needs you, okay?" She nodded her head and fell back on the pillow. He checked on Gillian, who was actually sleeping, albeit uncomfortably. He hoped she would actually be able to lie down tonight.

Cal headed to the office. He pulled in the garage just after 7:30. He was never there that early. He had gotten a call from Detective Parker late the evening before. He was going to bring the video footage from the shop by today. Cal was chomping at the bit to do something on this case.

Cal saw Torres as he approached the reception desk. "Hey. Let Loker know the MPD is bringing the video footage from the sandwich shop by today. It should be here by 8:30. I want you both in the lab. Everything else is on hold until we get through that footage." He was heading into his office as he finished the sentence. He closed his door before Torres could even respond.

Cal made some phone calls and checked his email. It was now 8am. He wanted to call the house and check on Gillian, but he didn't. Hopefully, both of them would still be sleeping. He piddled around his office for a few minutes and then headed to Gillian's office. He remembered the Richardson file she had been working on. He gathered it up and brought it back to his office. She wouldn't be back in the office for a while, if he had any say in the matter. He needed to get things in order.

Heidi called on his line at 8:25. "Dr. Lightman? Detective Parker is here."

Cal went out to the hall. He shook Detective Parker's hand. "Okay, let's see what you've got." He took the disc from the detective. "Follow me." He led Detective Parker into the lab.

Cal handed the video to Loker. "Detective Parker. This is Eli Loker, Ria Torres, and Agent Ben Reynolds."

Detective Parker shook everyone's hand. "Wow. This is quite the set up you have here. The surveillance video was done with a multi-plexor. You guys can play that right?"

"How many cameras?" Loker asked and then smiled. _'Can we play a multi-plexor? Of course we can.'_

"Four cameras. One behind the counter, one looking out from the front door, one looking in from the front door, and the last one was in the office. Before you play it, let me say two things. One, it has no sound. Two, it's pretty graphic."

Cal responded. "Very well, then. Play it Loker."

The video started with the owner of the shop behind the counter. The younger employee was restocking condiments on the tables. Two men wearing masks enter the front door. One is very large, the other average sized. The smaller suspect pulled out a gun and pointd it at the younger employee as they came in. The larger man went toward the owner.

"Stop right there. The younger employee is terrified. But, look at the owner." Cal moved closer to the screen. "Focus on the owner."

"He's not scared. What is that? Anger?" Ria saw the lack of fear right away.

"I think we're looking at contempt. It's obvious he knows at least one of them. Push back out, back it up and let it go again." Cal gave Loker direction.

They watched the smaller suspect force the younger employee into the back room at gunpoint. The larger suspect pointed in the direction of the back room and then followed the owner back. They were moving very slowly.

"See that? He didn't even say anything to him. The owner not only knows them, he knows why they're there." Cal moved even closer to the screen.

"It's hard to tell what the deal is with those guys when they have masks on." Ria said with frustration.

"Well, you gotta watch the body language." Cal pointed at the screen. "Stop it there. See the pride in the one with the gun? Chest puffed out, chin raised. He's feelin' mighty powerful with that gun in his hand."

"The other guy is calmer, definitely less of a hot head. No weapon and he gets control of the owner just by a look and a gesture of his arm." Loker pointed out as he let the video go forward again.

The video showed all four men in the back office. There was some discussion between the larger man and the owner. The smaller suspect made the younger employee sit in a chair.

"Look at the smug satisfaction the big guy's showing. And there. He crosses his arms, and there is his pride. If he puffs that chest anymore it'll explode." Ria smirked.

"Oh, there's disgust from the owner. But, still no fear. It's like he can't show that." Loker was a little confused.

Cal was smirking now. "Stop it there. Push in on the owner. He knows what's comin'. He has no pride left, so the best he can do is try to mask his fear. But, the fear is still there. See that?" Cal pointed at the owner's eyes. "It's just all in his eyes."

The big man had the owner open the safe and then made him kneel down on the floor. The owner's face could no longer be seen.

"The gunman is way too excited. This is his first mark. You don't see that with an experienced killer." Cal could see that this was headed to a contract killing.

"What? Are you saying this is some planned execution and not a robbery gone wrong?" Detective Parker was trying to keep up. Cal had jumped way ahead of him.

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Cal answered as he glanced over his shoulder toward the detective. He turned back to the screen.

The big man motioned the smaller suspect over and nodded his head. "And, it's gonna happen…Now." Cal said right as the smaller suspect aimed the gun at the owner's head and pulled the trigger.

The smaller suspect got an adrenaline rush from the kill. The big man went to the safe and took out the cash that as inside. He put it in a bank bag that was on the desk. They went to leave the room and the gunman laughed as he pointed the gun at the younger employee and pulled the trigger. It's a 'kill' shot. Right to the chest.

"Oh, my God!" Ria said with disgust as she watched the second kill.

"Yep. That one was purely recreational. He's on a high. Might as well be smokin' crack." Cal said as he shook his head with contempt.

The suspects left the office and headed toward the front of the shop. The two men stopped moving. On the other screen you can see Gillian enter the front door. She walked further in and looked around. She turned back toward the door. The big man yelled something and took off toward Gillian. He ran at her full force and hit her hard on the back with both his hands. Gillian came off the ground and flew head first into a table.

They all stared at the monitor trying to absorb what they were seeing. No one spoke. Ria covered her mouth with her hand and stared wide eyed. Loker stared in shock with his mouth open. Ben stood, balled his fists and walked closer to the screen with his nostrils flaring. Cal's fists were working overtime and his jaw was clenched so tight his head started to shake. Detective Parker watched their reactions. It was obvious to him they all cared for Gillian Foster very much. "You guys can stop it there if you want to."

"No. Let it play." Cal said in a determined tone.

Gillian was obviously dazed and moving very slowly. The big man caught his balance and moved back toward her. He was yelling at her and she looked confused. The big man grabbed her right arm that had been under her and twisted it as he pulled it up. He yanked her purse off her arm and then dumped the contents. Gillian fell back to the floor. The gunman approached her right as she looked up. He pointed the gun at her face and yelled.

Cal's blood went cold. He had seen Gillian Foster scared for her life once before. They were in the Pentagon together on 9/11. She had the same look on her face then. _'Oh my God Gill. I will bloody kill them!'_

The big man had grabbed Gillian's wallet, keys, and cell phone. He turned and saw Gillian looking at the gunman. The big man pushed the gun up as the smaller man kicked her hard on her left side. The gunman looked at the big man and pointed the gun back at Gillian. The big man stared for a second and then shook his head. As they ran out of the shop, the big man glanced back at Gillian again. She had curled to the side and wasn't moving.

"Whoa! Back it up!" Ria said as she stepped forward. "Stop right when he points the gun at Foster."

"Oh, my God. I see it." Loker said as his eyebrows flew up.

Ben spoke for the first time "see what?"

"The big man showed big time surprise when he looked at Gillian's face." Loker explained.

Detective Parker said "so that means-"

"It means he recognized her." Cal said in a somber tone.

"So, she knows him?" Parker asked, surprised.

Cal looked at the detective "I don't know about that. But, he definitely knows her."

**TBC**


	9. Chapter 9

**Here we go. This is getting long. Let me know if anyone objects to that! I cut this chapter because it went on forever. You'll get the rest in another installment.**

**Yep-still playing and still with no ownership.**

Cal sat at his desk watching the video over and over. He kept stopping at Gillian's terrified look. It made him sick to his stomach to see that. He cared so much for her- always had. He swore after 9/11 he would make it so she would never feel afraid like that again. That was one reason he came up with the idea for 'The Lightman Group' and asked her to be a part of it with him.

He glanced at the clock. 12:00. If he was smart, he would go home. What was he going to accomplish here today? His mind was at his house with his partner.

Cal thought about the implications of one of the suspects knowing Gillian. At least, for whatever reason, the guy hadn't wanted her dead. But, why not? What significance did she have that he spared her? What circles could this guy be in? Cal thought about previous cases, but couldn't come up with anything that made sense. He had spoken to Detective Parker about showing the video to Gillian. Maybe actually seeing the men would spark something. But they had decided that wouldn't be a good idea. Gillian had all ready said she could not ID them because she didn't get a good look at them, hell it wasn't until she thought about it that she realized there were two different voices. They couldn't taint that. If she viewed the video and saw them it might negate the fact that she would be able to identify them by their voices. Better not to muddy the water on that one. They did decide Cal would mention to her that he saw the video and explain the recognition by the bigger man. That could maybe get her thinking…

Cal also thought about her safety. If this guy knew her, he might know her new address. Detective Parker was going to have a unit keep a check on her current apartment to be sure the suspects didn't actually know where it was. There was no way Cal was letting her go back there. It wasn't safe.

Cal picked up the phone and called home.

Emily answered. "Hey, Dad."

"Hey Em. How's it going?"

"Uh, it's okay. I made Gillian pancakes for breakfast. She only ate one, but that's better than nothing, right?" Emily felt bad. Cal could hear it in her voice.

"What's wrong Em?" Cal was curious as to why she would be feeling bad.

"Nothing really…it's just…it's so hard to look at her dad. She's in pain and I know it. But she keeps saying she feels better. I know she doesn't."

"Have you done the ice pack?" Cal asked.

"Yeah. I felt bad putting that cold pack on her. She was shivering so badly and it took a long time for her to get warmed up." Emily was worried about Gillian.

"I know Em. But, it's necessary. It's bloody uncomfortable but it will make her better. How much has she slept?" Cal was wondering if she would get any rest.

"She hasn't. I came down around 8:00 and she was all ready awake. She hasn't gone back to sleep."

"I'm surprised the pain meds aren't knocking her out." _'How was she fighting that?'_

Emily didn't respond. "Emily. Did you give her the pain medicine?"

"I tried to Dad. She said she didn't need them and that she was tired of sleeping. I'm sorry." Emily was worried he would be mad at her for not taking good care of Gillian.

Cal heard the worry in her voice. "It's okay Em. I know how my partner is. She's bloody stubborn. Have you had lunch yet?"

"No. I tried to make Gillian something but she said she wasn't hungry. I even tried to bribe her with pudding." Emily sounded slightly frustrated.

Cal made up his mind. "I'm comin' home for lunch. Thai sound good?"

"Yeah, that sounds great. I'm sorry Dad." Emily wished she could do more for Gillian. She knew her Dad would get better results. Gillian usually always listened to him, even if they had to argue first.

"No worries love. I know what you're dealing with!" Cal smiled. "Hey, I'll probably stick around so if you want to make some plans-"

"I gotcha Dad. How long should I stay gone tonight?" Emily knew what he was doing.

"Not too late love. Thanks. I'll be home in a bit."

* * *

Cal got home just after 1:00. He came in with the Thai food and an orange slushie. If she wasn't going to eat, he was at least going to keep her hydrated!

He came in to find Emily sitting next to Gillian on the couch. They were watching a chick flick, or at least Emily was. Gillian was sitting with her left side against the back of the couch and her knees curled up. Her head was lying over on the couch and her eyes were closed. Emily was sitting right in front of Gillian and was cradling Gillian's right arm in her lap.

Emily put her finger over her lips to tell Cal to be quiet. He nodded at her and made his way quietly into the kitchen. Emily gently squeezed away from Gillian and propped her arm on a pillow. She joined her Dad in the kitchen.

"Did you get her meds in her?" Cal asked hopefully.

"Nope. She's just too exhausted to hold her head up. I thought if I sat next to her maybe she would relax enough to go to sleep. So, I put a movie on and snuggled with her. It worked." Emily was proud she was able to get Gillian to relax.

Cal was proud too. "Thanks love. Here have some lunch. Did you make some plans?"

"Yep. I'm going to Heather's house. We're just gonna hang out and watch a movie or something."

"Emily I really appreciate you helping out with Gillian." Cal was genuinely thankful. He was also very pleased that his two favorite people in the world got on so well.

"I'm glad to Dad. I love Gillian. I like having her around. I wish it was under better circumstances though."

Cal peeked in and checked on Gillian. She was still asleep. He got two plates out. He took the plates to the table where Emily was all ready opening the cartons.

"Have they figured out who did this to Gillian yet?" Emily asked her dad hopefully.

"No love. Not yet. They're working on it though." Cal was not ready to talk to Emily about the gory details. Bad enough she knew how much danger Gillian had been in. He changed the subject. "Have you heard from your mom?"

"Not today. She's been calling in the evening. I think she is enjoying the conference though." Emily knew what he had done. Sometimes she hated that he protected her so rigidly. She knew better than to push it by asking any more questions about the case.

They ate quietly for a few minutes. Then Emily spoke up. "Dad, have you ever thought about taking Gillian on a date?" She didn't look at him.

"What?" Cal almost choked on his food. _'She did not just ask that.'_

"A date. You know. Like dinner and a movie?"

"Em, I know what a date is. Why would you think I would ask Gillian on a date?" _'Jesus. Unmerciful kid. Too much like her father.'_

"Why not? I mean you get along so well, and you make each other happy…" Emily let her voice trail off.

"Love, Gill and I are partners and very close friends. All good relationships don't have to be romantic ones." Cal kept his eyes on his plate.

"I know that Dad. But, I think you guys would be so good together." Emily pushed.

"Em, Gillian is still technically married." Cal was deflecting, he knew. He just hoped Emily didn't catch it.

"She all ready filed for divorce Dad. It should be final any day now. Wait a minute. Are you deflecting?"

Cal looked up at his daughter. "We are not gonna to talk about this."

"Are you saying that if she wasn't still 'technically' married you would ask her out? Because if your only argument is that she isn't divorced yet… I take that to mean that you would be interested in her." Emily knew she was pushing her luck.

"Em. No more." He looked up at her with a stern face.

'_Well, the seed is planted anyway.' _"Ok fine. But just in case you ever wonder, I would totally approve."

"Emily."

Emily jumped up and kissed her Dad's cheek. "I'm gonna head out now."

"Okay… Bye love." She was out the door before he even got the words out.

Cal sat at the table and thought about what Emily had said. It wasn't as if he had never thought about Gillian that way. He thought about it quite often. It was just something that could never be. She was married. _'Yeah she WAS married. Not any more.' _Cal stood up and took the dishes into the kitchen. _'I couldn't pursue her. What if she doesn't think that way about me? What about the damned line? What if she wants to be her own person for a while with no attachments?'_

"Knock it off you bloody idiot." He mumbled to himself.

**TBC**


	10. Chapter 10

**Long, somewhat fluffy one here. What can I say? I'm fond of Cal/Gill moments…**

**Blah, blah, don't own blah, blah, blah… standard crap.**

Cal was heading into the living room when he saw Gillian try to stand up. It didn't go well. She was basically on the floor before she could get fully upright. Cal ran to help her.

"Hey love. You're supposed to be gettin' some help with this movin' around stuff." Cal was kneeling behind her supporting her by her elbows.

"I'm fine Cal. Just get me standing. I can do this myself." Gillian said through gritted teeth.

"No love. You really can't." He said as he gently lifted her up and helped her to sit back on the couch.

"What are you doing here? Where's Emily?" Gillian was obviously frustrated.

"She went to a friend's house. So, you're stuck with me." Cal sat down where Emily had been sitting before. He looked at Gillian's face. She looked like hell. The bruises were good and purple now. She looked tired. And she was in pain. "Why no pain meds today, love?"

Gillian looked down and closed her eyes. "I don't like how they make me feel."

"So, you like feelin' the pain? I never knew you were a masochist Foster." He grinned at her, trying to lighten things up.

"I'm not. I just don't like how fuzzy they make me feel. I can't think straight. I'm groggy and I don't know what's going on around me…" She felt the tears pushing at the backs of her eyes.

"Gill. You're safe here. Nothin' is gonna happen to you." Cal took her hands in his. She leaned to her left, into the back of the couch.

"I'm sorry. I must be such a pain." She managed to hold off the tears.

"No. You're not." Cal leaned in and kissed her lightly on the cheek. "How about some lunch?"

"How about a shower?" Gillian gave him a puppy dog look. "I haven't had one since Monday morning. It's Wednesday afternoon. I feel so disgusting."

"Okay. Let's make a deal. You eat some lunch and take your pain medicine and I'll see to it that you get a shower, yeah?" Cal was glad she gave him a bargaining chip.

"I'll try to eat some lunch. And I will take some pain medicine after a shower, but only if you'll stay with me." Gillian hated how weak and pathetic she sounded.

"Deal. Except, I want you to take the pain meds with your lunch. Then an ice pack 'cause it's time. Then after a nap, a warm shower will feel good. And I will stay with you the whole time." Cal spoke very quickly amid several attempts at interruption by Gillian.

"Cal! How is that fair?" Gillian looked irritated, but Cal guessed she was too exhausted and in too much pain to argue against him successfully.

"I'm tryin' to help here. Plus, I know how you are. You'll want to do the whole shower thing by yourself and you don't have the strength. If you rest up first, you'll have a better shot." Cal knew that wasn't true. She didn't have a shot in hell at showering by herself. '_How the hell is this shower thing gonna work? She can't even stand up on her own. '_

"There was a lie in there somewhere. You are not playing fair. My mind is not up to this." Gillian sighed in defeat.

"So, it's settled then. I'll get your lunch and your meds." He went toward the kitchen and yelled over his shoulder "and your orange slushie!"

Gillian smiled. _'Well, he gets a brownie point for the slushie…'_

* * *

Gillian had eaten about half of her lunch, drank her whole slushie, and Cal got the meds in her. They were sitting on the floor in front of the couch now. Cal was leaning against it with his legs straddled. Gillian was sitting in between his legs with the ice pack on her back. The pain medicine was starting to hit her and she couldn't hold her eyes open. Cal had a pillow in between them and had pulled Gillian back against it. He pulled a blanket over the front of her. It took about 2 minutes before she was out.

Cal sat there for twenty minutes with the ice pack between them. Gillian had started shivering right after she fell asleep. He wanted nothing more than to take the damn cold thing off of her, but he knew it was helping. At the twenty minute mark, he gently pushed her forward just enough to be able to slide the ice pack and the pillow out from between them. He then leaned her back against his chest and pulled her hips back so she was completely supported by him. She was shivering badly, but hadn't woken up. He pulled the blanket around them both, put a pillow behind his head, and wrapped his arms around her. He dozed off after a few minutes.

An hour passed when Gillian's movement woke him up. She was obviously dreaming and by the tenseness in her body and the small whimpering noises she was making, it wasn't a good one. Cal leaned forward and hugged her. He whispered in her ear as he stroked up and down her good arm. "It's me Gill. I'm right here with you. You're safe love." He felt her calming. After a short time, he felt her relax again. They sat there for another hour. Cal's neck and back were stiff but he wasn't about to move. This is the most peaceful sleep he had seen Gillian get since this nightmare began.

Gillian woke up slowly. Cal felt her startle when she was awake enough to realize where she was. "Cal?" She sounded embarrassed. She tried to sit herself up and winced.

"Hey, it's okay. Hold on. Let me help you." Cal held onto her until she stopped trying to pull against him.

"I'm sorry. Why didn't you move me? You must be so uncomfortable."

"Nah, I'm all right." Cal helped her to lean forward. He got up and picked her up by grabbing underneath her arms.

"Hey!" Gillian squeeled. "That tickles!"

"Sorry, love. Didn't want to grab anywhere that was sore." Cal hadn't meant to tickle her but he did enjoy the giggle she gave. He helped her down onto the couch.

"Shower time? Please?" Gillian looked at him questioningly.

"About that…" Cal started.

"Oh no, Cal Lightman! We had a deal! You are _not_ backing out. I kept up my end." Gillian looked like she could spit nickels.

"I don't wanna back out. I just don't know how we can do this. I mean…" Cal wasn't sure what to say. "You can't stand by yourself, love. How are you gonna get in the shower?"

Gillian thought for a second. She hadn't considered the logistics of it. She just knew she wanted a shower. Suddenly, she realized what Cal was talking about. "I can stand on my own, Cal. Okay, not straight, but I can stand. I just can't get myself up or down. Those muscles aren't working right." She looked at him and saw the strangest look on his face. He looked down to her feet and back up to her face. He tilted his head and raised his eyebrows at her.

"Gill. You can't raise your arms over your head. You can't bend over. You're working with only one good arm and you're still having dizzy spells."

Gillian thought about what he had just said. She took a painful deep breath and closed her eyes. "Ugh. I need a shower Cal. Please, tell me there is a way we can do this."

Cal grinned at her with his eyes wide. "Well, love, I'm not opposed to hoppin' in there with you or soapin' you up. But, somethin' tells me you won't be at all comfortable with that-on so many levels for so many reasons."

Gillian looked at him with the widest eyes he had ever seen. Then she looked away as her face got the cutest shade of pink. "I… I…"

Cal laughed earning him a sharp glare from Gillian. "I'm sorry. Look, I can put on some trunks and hop in there with you. I got no problem with that. I just don't know how you feel…"

"I'm mortified Cal." Gillian looked like she was about to lose it.

"Okay, hey, in all seriousness, I can help you. You can leave something on, I'm sure you have something in your bag. Emily packed it. I'm sure she packed something that will work. I'll get in there with you and help you wash your hair, and whatever else I can do that isn't intrusive. It won't be optimal, but I won't do anything inappropriate. I promise. You're my best friend Gill. I would do anything for you."

Gillian was looking at his face. She could see that he wasn't joking now. He was being very serious and very caring. "Cal. Maybe this isn't a good idea. This would definitely be _so_ over the line."

"It's only over the line if we both don't okay it. Isn't that the rule? We don't read or question or push unless the other agrees that it's okay?" Cal took her hand. He hoped she could see that he was being honest and that he truly wanted to help her.

"Are you sure Cal? Because, I don't know, I'm so embarrassed. This is humiliating." Gillian looked down and away. She had a sad defeated look on her face.

"I'm sure. I will do whatever you need. All joking aside. I want to help." Cal really wanted to help her and hoped he came across as genuine as he was feeling.

"Okay." She looked up at him. "But let's check what Emily put in my bag first."

Cal jumped up and got her bag. He started to pull things out. Then he saw her looking terrified at what might come out next. He put the bag in front of her and let her look through it. She found a dark blue tank top and smiled. "Okay this will work. How are we gonna get it on me?"

"Trust me love. I'll preserve your privacy and your dignity. I have more respect for you than that." Cal gave her a serious look.

"Okay. I trust you. Let's do this."

Cal helped Gillian to the bathroom. She was wearing a short sleeved t-shirt with no bra and a pair of athletic shorts. Cal had her stand facing the wall. He helped her take off her t-shirt. When he saw the bruises on her back he let out a gasp. He had never seen bruises this bad in his life. He could see the deep purple marks. They almost looked like hand prints, very large hand prints.

Gillian asked "It's that bad huh?"

"Yeah love it is." Cal answered quietly.

Cal helped her get the tank top on and then helped her step out of the shorts. Gillian Foster was now standing in front of him wearing nothing but a tank top and her underwear. He couldn't help but notice how stunning she was. He quickly refocused himself. He helped her take off the soft cast. Then he took off his outer clothing. He was wearing a pair of navy blue boxer briefs.

He started the water and once it got warm he helped her get in. There was no conversation at first. He knew she was feeling weak and embarrassed and he didn't want to make it worse. He helped her get her hair wet and then washed it for her. He took the soap and gently washed her shoulders and arms. He washed her legs. Then he asked "Do you want me to shave your legs? 'Cause I can do that. I have experience, seriously."

Gillian laughed a full belly laugh. And then she cursed him because it hurt. He explained that he had shaved Zoe's legs for her at the end of her pregnancy with no accidents or disasters. Gillian agreed to let him. Once they were done, Cal turned off the water and grabbed a towel. He wrapped it around her gently. After they were both dried, he helped her to get dry clothes on. He was proud of himself-he didn't peek. It was bloody hard not to, but he didn't.

Before they left the bathroom, Cal noticed Gillian looking down with a nervous expression. "What's the matter Gill?"

"I haven't seen the bruises yet." She whispered softly.

"Do you want to? I'll help you."

"Yes." He helped her to the vanity mirror. She stood looking at her bruised face. Cal saw her surprise and shock. She then slowly lifted her shirt with her left hand. Her ribs were black and blue. She stared at the bruises and he felt her shudder. He put his hand on her shoulder.

"Do you have a mirror so I can see my back?"

Cal opened a few of the vanity drawers until he found a small hand mirror. He helped her turn around and then placed the mirror in her left hand. She positioned it so she could see her back. He lifted her shirt for her. "Oh my God." Her hand shook. Cal took the mirror from her and put it away. He put his arms around her and gave her a hug.

**TBC**


	11. Chapter 11

**I keep trying to move things faster…it's not working. I'm nit-picky about the details. And I like writing it character centered as opposed to all plot. I hope that's okay.**

**Same disclaimer. Blah blah blah…**

Cal got Gillian settled on the couch. He then told her about seeing the video earlier and how they had seen a flash of recognition in the larger suspect when he looked at her. Gillian had immediately asked about seeing the video for herself. Cal explained what he and Detective Parker had talked about and how it would be a bad idea. Cal described the larger man as best he could, considering he was wearing a mask.

"He's a white guy, stocky and muscular like Ben, but much taller." He watched Gillian processing the information.

"Cal, do you know how many people I see every day that could fit that description?"

"Yeah, love, but the thing is…this guy could have let his partner in crime kill you. But he didn't. He stopped him. Then he looked back at you as they walked out. I couldn't see his face and I could only guess at what might have been there." Cal let that sink in before he continued. "This guy knew the shop owner. They were there to kill him. The other suspect had the gun. The bigger guy obviously called the shots. They tried to make it look like a robbery…"

"You think this was a contract hit?" Gillian couldn't believe what she was hearing. "And you think the thug in charge _knows_ me?" _'What the hell? Breathe Gillian. Just breathe.' _

"We don't think, we know. Loker, Torres and I watched the video together. It was obviously a contract hit with a newbie shooter. And it was completely obvious that the bigger guy recognized you. To the point that he didn't want you killed." Cal hated this. He knew what it would do to her. She would be scared to death and put up the brave front to keep everyone from worrying about her.

"Where the hell would I have met a contract killer?" Gillian was searching through her mind for anything that would make sense. All she was getting was a serious headache. "It would have to be through work. Contract killers are _not_ in my social circle."

"I've got Loker and Torres going through all your cases. They're going to pull out anybody that fits the description." Cal knew if he didn't put that out there she would be insisting on getting to the office to go through her own stuff.

"Cal. That's a lot of work. It's been over six years." _'He should just let me do it. It wouldn't take as much time since I know all the players in my cases.'_

"Absolutely not. You are not doing it." He saw the thoughts racing and knew what she was going to say. "You need to rest and not worry about anything except getting yourself better. Speaking of which, I'm off to get your pain meds."

"Cal. You just dropped this stuff on me. I need time to think about it. I can't do that with 'pain med fuzzies'." Gillian knew she would be obsessed with figuring this out now. What if she knew this guy? What if he changed his mind? What if he decided she needed to be taken care of? What if he knows her well enough to know where her new apartment is? What if he came here, to Cal's? What if she was putting them in danger just by being here?

"What is all that love?" Cal saw the fear and confusion on her face. He knew she was 'what iffing.' "You can't do that Gill. You'll drive yourself crazy. And don't think for a second that you're being here is putting us at risk." Gillian looked away from him. "It's been taken care of. Ben has an FBI guy outside the house as we speak. Noah has units checking sporadically on your apartment, just in case. It's all covered."

"Noah? You're on a first name basis with the detective?" Gillian was shaking her head at him. "You have just insinuated yourself all over this one, haven't you?"

"What? He's a good guy. Not like some of the locals who muttle through. He has a good head on his shoulders. He's obviously intelligent, he asked us to help right? Plus, I think he got tired of me calling him 'detective' all morning."

"You're a hot mess Cal Lightman. And a bit of a control freak. Don't drive _Noah_ crazy okay? I'd like to be kept in the loop on this case and if you push it, that won't happen."

"I'll be good if you are." He said while handing her the pain medicine and a bottle of water.

She looked at him with a question in her eyes.

"I'll be right here. Not planning on leaving this house until tomorrow morning."

Gillian felt like a big baby. "Thank you." She took the meds.

He sat back at one end of the couch. "Do you want to try it lying down?" He put a pillow on his lap and patted it.

She thought for a second. "I would love to but…"

"Here, let me help you." He helped her turn onto her left side. He put two pillows on his lap so she would be elevated slightly. He then gave her a pillow to hug in front of her to help support her ribs and her arm.

Gillian stared straight in front of her. She was going through everything in her head over and over. Cal knew it wouldn't do any good to try and get her to stop thinking about it. He decided to lightly rub circles on her shoulder and play with her hair until the pain medicine could do its thing. In twenty minutes, she was out. He closed his eyes with the intent of relaxing for a few minutes.

Cal was pulled from his sleep by a restless Gillian. She was having a nightmare. He put his arms around her and whispered in her ear. She didn't wake up. Within a few minutes, she was relaxed again. He wondered if this was how it would be for a while. Restless, nightmare filled sleep. He had calmed her like this several times over the past two days. This was the worst. Cal couldn't help thinking it was because he told her the suspect recognized her. Then they had spent so much time talking about it tonight.

Cal was lost in thought when his cell phone rang. He grabbed it quickly. "Yeah?"

It was Loker. "We've gone back two years and we have three possible men."

"Download sound bites from any of the taped interviews. Only sound. No video." Cal instructed him. "Then call it a night."

"Sure thing. I'll have it ready for you in the morning." Loker paused and then asked, "How's Dr. Foster?"

"She's doing okay. I'll see you guys in the morning."

Cal looked at the clock. 8:30. He had slept for an hour. He looked down at Gillian. She was sleeping soundly, obviously more comfortable here than in the recliner. Cal heard the front door open. A minute later Emily appeared.

"How is she?" Emily asked as she quietly walked over. She noticed that Gillian's hair was wavy. "Did she get to take a shower?"

"She's doing okay. Yes. She got a shower. Her spirits are a little better tonight than they were earlier." Cal didn't realize he was playing with Gillian's hair until he noticed Emily staring at his hand.

"You care about her a lot, huh?" Emily smiled.

"Yeah, love. I do." Cal looked up at her. Emily leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She then leaned down and gently placed a kiss on Gillian's forehead stopping for just a second to gaze at the bruises. Cal saw the sadness on her face.

"She'll heal up Em. Don't worry. Gill's tough."

"I know. Plus, she has you to help her."

"She has _us_ to help her." Cal was smiling now too.

* * *

The next morning, Cal went in to the office at 8:30. He had left Gillian sleeping on the couch. She hadn't done too badly during the night. He got her up twice for a hot compress on her back and her pain medicine. Only one nightmare. She had been lying on the couch on her left side with no trouble breathing. It wasn't pain free, but definitely more comfortable than sitting up all night.

Cal gave Noah Parker a call around 9am. He wanted an update on the case and he needed to let him know about the conversation with Gillian. Nothing to tell really, she couldn't add anything at this point.

Detective Parker explained that the autopsies had been done on the two victims. They wouldn't have toxicology lab results back for 6 to 8 weeks. The cause of death was as expected for both; fatal gunshot wounds.

"We did find a suspicious substance in a baggy in the owner's pants pocket. It field tested positive for Crystal Meth. There isn't much Meth around here. The closest known supply is in Loudoun County. We've put feelers out to the DEA. They're checking their computers to see if the shop owner's name turns up in any rings of Meth users or sellers in the area."

"So you think this is drug related?" Cal's thoughts immediately went to Alec Foster. But he was a crack cocaine user. Although, he hadn't been around for a while. Who knows what he might be into now.

"Right now, that's our most promising angle. We turned up nothing on the employee. Pretty straight laced college kid from what we can tell. The owner has no criminal history, but his family members report strange behavior on his part for the last 6 months."

Cal thought he had better mention Alec's drug use to Noah just in case. "Noah, I need to tell you something, but I don't want you to mention it to Gillian. She doesn't need this right now."

"Ok, Cal. What have you got?"

"Gillian's soon to be ex-husband has a cocaine addiction. It might be nothing, but just in case." Better to have it checked out and know for sure. "I don't think he has ever been involved with Crystal Meth, but I wouldn't put it past him."

"I'll check it out. And I won't say anything to Gillian about it. Speaking of Gillian, how is she doing?"

"I think she might actually be feeling a bit better today."

"Oh, good. I need to catch up with her. Is it too early to call?" Detective Parker felt a little excited at the prospect of seeing Gillian today.

"No, give her a call. But, Noah, don't mention Alec. Okay? I don't think that would help anything."

"I understand Cal. I'll let you know if we get anything else." Detective Parker hung up with Cal and immediately called Gillian Foster.

**TBC**


	12. Chapter 12

**This is a very long chapter! I just want to say before you read this-keep an open mind. I love Cal and Gillian together. Don't be angry. Everything happens for a reason. Having said that, just remember-sometimes life's little diversions add clarity and richness beyond our imagination.**

**Stick with me. You won't regret it…**

Emily was in the kitchen when she heard the cell phone ringing. It was Gillian's. She knew there was no way Gillian could get to it so she ran to answer it.

"Gillian Foster's phone." Emily looked at Gillian and shrugged her shoulders. "Hold on a second. She's right here."

"Hello?" Gillian wasn't sure who was calling as she hadn't given her new number to anyone.

"Gillian. It's Noah Parker. Is this a good time?"

"Yeah, it's fine. I am so sorry. I just realized I never called you with my number."

He laughed. "It's okay. You were a little out of it in the hospital. I got the number from Cal. Would it be okay if I stopped by in a few hours? Just to follow up with you?"

"Uh, sure. I guess Cal gave you the address?" _'Oh great. I look a fright, and there's nothing I can do about it!'_

"Yes. He did. I'll see you around 11:00?"

"I'll be here." She was wishing now she had turned down the pain meds Emily had just given her. That's what she gets for being a good girl and cooperating. Maybe the effects would wear off a little before the good detective arrived.

* * *

Emily had just checked on Gillian when she heard the doorbell ring. She opened the door and saw the police detective. _'Wow. Can you say hot?'_ He looked like George Clooney's head on Matt Damon's body. _'Whoa.'_

"You must be Detective Parker." Emily stuttered. "Please. Come in. Gillian's in the family room."

Emily led him into the other room. He saw that Gillian was sleeping. "Oh, she's sleeping. Don't wake her. I can come back in a little while."

"No, she told me to wake her when you got here. The pain medicine knocks her out for a few hours usually. She had just taken it when you called." Emily gently shook Gillian's shoulder. Gillian startled causing Emily to jump. "I'm sorry Gill. I didn't mean to scare you."

"No, Em, it's okay." Gillian winced as she took a deep breath. Breathing deeply had gotten easier, but was still painful.

"Detective Parker is here." Emily announced as she stepped aside.

Gillian saw the detective looking at her with a concerned, sad expression. "Hi Detective Parker." _'Just shoot me now.'_

"Please. Call me Noah. If this isn't a good time…" he let his sentence trail off.

"No. It's okay. I… I just…" Gillian was trying without success to sit up. "Em?"

Emily and Noah both moved toward her. Noah stopped himself. Emily took hold of Gillian's upper arms and, hugging her closely, sat her up. Gillian's left hand immediately went to her head. It felt great to be lying down again, but the head pain when she sat up was less than comfortable. She kept her eyes closed for a few seconds.

"Are you okay?" Noah still had the same expression on his face.

"Oh. Yeah. My head just doesn't like to move that fast yet." Gillian looked away from him. _'So, embarrassing. It's bad enough I look like crap.' _

A silence fell over the room. Emily got the distinct impression that Noah was not going to talk about anything with her in the room. "Um, okay. Gillian do you need anything right now?"

"No Em. I'm okay. Thanks."

"Okay, so, I'm gonna go upstairs for a bit. Call me if you need anything." Emily went to the stairs. Before she went to her room, she gave Noah Parker another once over. He was very attractive and he obviously thought Gillian was very attractive by the way he was looking at her. _'Even all bruised up, she's still pretty._ _If Dad is gonna make a move, he better do it soon.' _

"So, how are you feeling? Really?" Noah asked as he sat in the chair across the coffee table from her.

"I guess _fine_ is not the answer you're looking for?" Gillian said as she watched him shake his head. "I feel like a herd of angry elephants has run over me. How's that?"

Noah laughed. "Believable!" After he said that he thought about it "not because you look like that or anything… just…" _'Wow. Open mouth, insert foot.'_

Gillian smiled. "I've had the chance to see myself. I know that's what I look like. I guess I'm lucky I like the color purple. Evidently, I'm going to be wearing it for a while."

"Good sense of humor. I like that." _'Crap. That was out loud. There went the other foot.'_

Gillian's eyes got wide. She looked down when she felt herself blushing.

"I'm sorry. I don't know why I keep doing that. I swear… I'm really-"

"It's okay. Look at me. I'm a mess. You're helping my ego. Consider it a public service." Gillian smiled. She thought for a second. "You know, you don't have to brown-nose me or sweet talk me to keep me invested in this case. I'm not a weak witness who's gonna run off on you."

Noah looked at her thoughtfully. "Oh, I don't think there is anything weak about you, Gillian Foster. Honestly, this is awkward, and probably not at all professional, but I like a number of traits you possess." He studied her. _'This could go really bad. Please smile or do something else positive to let me know I didn't just make an ass of myself.'_

Gillian saw the openness in his expression and the flash of fear followed by hope. "Thank you. That's very sweet of you to say." She smiled at him.

Noah let out a sigh of relief that was not unnoticed by Gillian. They locked eyes for just a moment. Gillian looked away first. "So, is there anything new with the case?"

"Well, we got autopsy results. No surprises there."

"Hm. Have you figured out how the suspects tie in with the owner?" Gillian wasn't sure if he could tell her that even if he knew, but it didn't stop her from asking.

"Uh, no." He thought about the conversation he had with Cal earlier. If he mentioned the drugs at all, Alec Foster's name might come up.

"Oh. I guess it's something you can't tell me then?" She knew he was lying, but what could she do? He couldn't tell her everything. That might jeopardize the case in Court, when or if it ever gets there.

Noah knew she would see right through him. "Yeah, I can't really talk about everything. You understand, right?" He felt strangely bad about lying by omission to her. _'She has got me under some kind of spell. This woman is intoxicating.'_

Gillian knew there would be things about the case she would not be privy to. "Yes. I completely understand."

"You're not gonna like this, but I need some more pictures." He remembered her less than favorable reaction to the pictures he took at the hospital.

"Ugh. You're right. I don't like that." Gillian self-consciously ran her hand through her hair. "Me, at my worst, captured in high resolution digital. Yay."

Noah grinned. "You look better right at this moment, bruises and all, than most women do all dolled up for a night on the town."

Gillian thought for a second. "That was a compliment, right?"

"Absolutely." He came around the table toward her as he pulled his camera from his jacket pocket. "Face first, then the arm?"

"Sure." Gillian said with mock excitement.

He knelt down in front of her. He snapped the first picture of her face and the flash caused her to wince away. "I'm sorry! I should have warned you so you could close your eyes."

"That's okay. How about I leave them closed for a bit?"

Noah took a few more pictures of her face from different angles. He loved the opportunity to be so close to her. She was naturally beautiful. Her skin was so pure. "Okay. One more. I didn't get any of the cut before because it was covered by the bandage." He stood up and backed away from her a few steps. "Arm now?"

"Okay."

He knelt down again and gently took hold of her arm. He undid the soft cast and slowly took it off. "The swelling has gone down a lot." _'Your skin is still just as soft.'_

"Yes. It feels better, too." Gillian put her arm on the pillow in her lap. Noah took a few pictures and then had her turn her arm over for a few more. When he finished, he helped her get the soft cast back on. Gillian was suddenly very aware of his cologne. It was a nice, 'outdoorsy' smell. She glanced at his face. She just realized how much he resembled George Clooney. _'Maybe it's the pain medicine.'_

"You okay?" He saw her looking intently at him.

"Yes." She nodded her head.

He stood up and started to step toward the door of the room. "Just the ribs and back to get now. I'll go call Emily down-"

"No!" Gillian interrupted. "I mean, can't you just take them? I don't want Emily to see these bruises. She's a tad freaked out about what happened and seeing all this wouldn't help."

"I can take them, if it's what you would prefer. I just didn't want you to be uncomfortable."

"I would prefer that. How are we going to do it?" Gillian was looking up at him.

"It might be easier if you stand up." Noah stepped toward her.

"Uh. That could be a problem. How about I sit right here and you can take the pictures of my ribs. Then we can worry about my back." Gillian tried to lean back as much as possible and lifted her shirt up, taking care to keep it below her breasts.

Noah took a few pictures from different angles. He then moved a little closer and put himself and the camera very close to her to take the last few. "Okay. Done there."

Gillian put her shirt down. She looked up at him. "I can't get up by myself."

"Oh. Okay. I can help you." He stepped beside her. "What is the easiest way to do this? I don't want to hurt you."

"Well, if you kneel in front of me and wrap your arms around me. Then I can use my legs to help you get me up."

Noah knelt in front of her and put is arms around her. _'Whoa. This feels fantastic.' _"Like this?"

"Yes. Now just go slow and don't let go of me." _'Yes, feel free to hold on.' _Gillian had her left arm on his shoulder and she couldn't help but notice how solid and strong he felt.

He pulled her up gently and held on to her until she got her balance. She was a tiny thing, he didn't need any help to get her up. _'I could stand right here for hours if you'd let me.' _ "You okay?"

"Yeah, but I can't…" She felt herself falling.

He grabbed her tighter. "Whoa. It's okay. Grab my arm."

"I'm sorry. I have to hold on to something. My upper body is devoid of strength right now. Can you just help me to the back of the couch?"

Noah kept an arm around her and guided her to the back of the couch. He got her there and then held on until she gave the sign that she was okay.

"I'm good. I can't get up and down or even stand up straight, but as long as I'm holding on to something…" Gillian looked away embarrassed at how weak she was.

"You're not comfortable leaning on people, literally or figuratively, am I right?" Noah looked at her with concern. She shook her head but didn't look at him. "Needing help from someone doesn't mean you're weak. It means you're human."

Gillian glanced up at him "I don't mean to be a pain. I would rather just rely on myself."

"You're not a pain. I get the feeling you haven't had too many people you could or would rely on."

She looked up at him, surprised. She saw tenderness and concern on his face. It was more than she could take. She quickly looked away.

"There I go again. I'm sorry. I don't mean to be so forward. It's just, in this profession, we're trained observers. I can't read micro-expressions, but I'm pretty intuitive." He leaned in toward her trying to catch her eyes.

Gillian's first thought was Cal. _'Cal always does that. Gets right in my face and pushes. No wonder he likes Noah so much. No wonder I like Noah so much…'_

"Gillian?" He put his hand on her arm.

She looked up at him. "I'm okay." She smiled. "So, how is this going to work?"

"Well, I can lift your shirt up in the back…" He stopped. "Are you sure you're comfortable with this?" He was standing right behind her talking right next to her ear.

She shivered when she felt his breath on her neck. "Yes, it's okay. Just close your eyes and help me get the shirt up. You'll have to help me get my left arm out. The bruises go pretty high. The shirt needs to come over my head."

He closed his eyes. He slowly pulled the shirt up leaving as much shirt covering the front of her as possible. He had to feel his way, since he couldn't see. He ran his hand down her left arm and gently pulled it out of her shirt. He felt the goose bumps. "You're cold."

"What?" Gillian tensed and started to pull away from him. She thought he must be looking at her breasts. She felt the chills and knew the reaction she was having.

He stopped moving "No, I know what you're thinking. My eyes are closed. I can feel the goose bumps on your arm."

"Oh, sorry."

"Is it okay to go on?"

"Yes. Go ahead." Gillian was embarrassed, again. She felt the butterflies in her stomach. She could like Noah Parker being this close to her. He slowly pushed the t-shirt over her head. He then held onto her to while she put the t-shirt in place.

"Okay, I'm covered." Gillian stood with the t-shirt hanging from her right shoulder and draped across her breasts. Noah slowly took his hands away from her. He opened his eyes and gasped when he saw the bruises.

"Not a pretty sight, huh?" Gillian wasn't surprised by the reaction. They looked horrendous.

"Wow. These are the worst bruises I have ever seen. No wonder you are having trouble moving around." He hadn't realized he was touching her back until she flinched away from him. "I'm sorry…

"I understand. I wanted to touch them when I saw them too. But, I can't reach them. They don't look real do they?"

"They look painful." He got the camera out and snapped several pictures. He slipped the camera back into his pocket. "I'm gonna help you get your shirt back on now, okay?"

She nodded her head. She felt him right behind her. He touched her shoulders. "I'm closing my eyes."

"Okay." Just as he reached in front of her to get the shirt over her head, they were interrupted.

"What are you doing?" Emily came quickly into the room. She was staring at Noah with anger all over her face.

Noah moved close to Gillian's back so Emily wouldn't see the bruises.

"Emily, it's okay. He was helping me with my shirt. He had to take pictures of the bruises. He's not hurting me." Gillian very quickly explained. "We're almost done. Can you just give us a few minutes? Please?"

"Sure, okay." She didn't look happy about it but Gillian heard her head back upstairs.

"Wow. Awkward." Gillian said as she smiled. "I'm sorry about that. Emily, and Cal too for that matter, are both very protective."

"That's good. I'm glad you have people around you that care for you so much. You're lucky. Should we finish up?"

Within a few minutes Gillian's shirt was back in place. He helped her back to the couch and got her settled.

"Cal said you had people checking on my apartment. Is everything okay?"

"Yes. No suspicious activity has been noted." He looked at her for a brief moment and saw how tired she looked. "Well, I'm gonna go so you can rest."

"Okay. You'll keep me informed, I mean with whatever you can share, right?"

"Yes Gillian. I will tell you whatever I can. And I want you to call me if you have any questions or if anything new comes to you-even if you think it's not important."

"I will." She smiled at him. He nodded and walked toward the doorway. "Noah?" He looked back at her. "If Cal starts driving you crazy, please let me know? He means well but he can be a bit overbearing."

Noah laughed "I'll let you know."

**TBC**


	13. Chapter 13

**Thanks for the kind reviews. And for not lynching me over the Noah thing… ;-) **

**Enjoy!**

Gillian was exhausted after Detective Parker's visit. She leaned back on the couch and closed her eyes. She had just dozed off when Emily came in.

"Gill?" Emily came closer. "Gill?" _'I should let her sleep.'_

Emily made her way into the kitchen just in time to catch the house phone as it rang. "Hello?"

"Hey Em. How's it goin' today love?"

"Hey Dad. Everything's fine."

"You girls had lunch yet?" Cal hoped Emily would be able to get Gillian to eat today.

"No, not yet. Detective Parker just left a little bit ago and then Gillian fell asleep. I didn't want to wake her up."

"So, she's actually resting then? Good. Did she take her pain meds?" That was the true test. Yesterday she had refused.

"Yeah. She took them this morning. Detective Parker was here for a while. He had her up moving around. A lot. So, I guess she's tired now."

"Up moving around? Why's that?" Cal was confused. _'Why would he have her up and moving around?'_

"Well, when I came in he was helping her with her shirt. Evidently, he had to take it off of her to take some pictures or something." Emily didn't hide the irritation she felt from her Dad.

"Her shirt was off?" Cal's voice went up in pitch. _'I can't believe Gillian would be okay with that.' _

"Yeah. I think Detective Parker might have a little _thing _for Gill. He's really cute Dad. And I think Gillian has noticed that." _'And you better wake up and realize how much you care about her. Before it's too late.'_

"Emily. Stop that." He knew what she was trying to do.

"But, Dad! You would be so good together. If _you_ don't do _something_, someone else is gonna snatch her up. Maybe even the good looking Detective Parker." Emily gave up being subtle and put it all out there.

"Emily. Back off. Gillian's interest, or not, in any man is none of your business."

"Okay, okay. I just really like her Dad. And I know you do too."

"Enough of this talk, Em. Make sure you get her to eat something, yeah? Call me if you guys need anything. I'll be home later. Love you." Cal barely heard her say she loved him too before he hung up. What was this feeling he was having? _'I do care for you Gillian. But, the damned line… Would you even consider crossing it? Would you resent me if I tried?'_

* * *

It was just after 5:00 when Cal left the office. He had gotten a CD from Loker with 7 different voices on it. He would play it for Gillian tonight and see if any of those were the suspect. He was just pulling out of the garage when his cell phone rang. "Yeah."

"Cal, its Noah Parker."

"Hey Noah. What's up?" _'Besides Gillian's shirt?'_

"I just wanted to let you know that I heard from the DEA and Alec Foster's name is not connected to any of the Crystal Meth rings. So, I would guess he isn't involved in our case. They did find him in the Cocaine webs though. Seems he is a pretty regular purchaser."

"Yeah, I imagine he is. Well, I'm glad to know he isn't messin' with Crystal Meth. Gillian might not handle it well if her soon-to-be ex had anything to do with this."

"I'll let you know if we get anything else. Let me know if Gillian recognizes any of the voices."

"Okay, will do." Cal hung up. He liked this guy. And he hated this guy… _'Oi. Christ.'_

* * *

Cal walked in the door of his house only to hear knocking and Emily saying Gillian's name. He went to the back of the house where the noise was coming from. "Em? What's wrong?"

"I helped her to the bathroom a few minutes ago. I went to get her a fresh towel and when I came back the door was locked. I think she's getting sick in there."

Cal moved Emily aside and knocked on the door "Gillian? Are you okay?" He heard her coughing.

"I'm… I'm fine, Cal. I just… I just need a few minutes. Please." Gillian was puking her guts up and she really didn't want an audience. She was glad she had managed to turn the water on in the sink before she had started throwing up. At least the sound was a little muffled. Her body was screaming right now. The force from throwing up had aggravated her injuries immensely. She was sitting on her knees with both arms on the toilet seat. She went to throw up again but nothing came out. She was just dry heaving now. The room was spinning and she just wanted to be left alone.

Cal went to the kitchen and went through the 'junk' drawer. He found the key to the bathroom and went back to the door. "Love, I'm coming in there."

"No Cal. Don't. I'm fine." _'My God. Can't I just feel like hell in peace?' _

"You don't sound fine. You can be pissed at me. I don't care. I'm comin' in." Cal took the key and unlocked the door. He pushed the door open and saw her hunched over the toilet. She dry heaved and tensed up from the pain.

Cal went over to her and knelt down. She was a wreck. Her face was tear- stained and her breathing was shallow. "Ok Love, we need to get your muscles relaxed. Emily, take that hand towel and get it wet. Put it in the microwave for about 40 seconds and check it. It needs to be warm, not hot." Emily ran to the kitchen. Cal put his hand on Gillian's stomach and put a small amount of pressure there. He could feel her muscles tensing. He rubbed small, gentle circles. She started to dry heave again. He put his arms around her and held her. Emily came back with the warm towel. Ca lifted Gillian's shirt and wrapped the towel around her middle. He gently pulled her to him. After a minute or so, he felt her muscles twitching. She sunk against him as the tension eased. They sat like that until Cal felt the towel getting cold. He pulled it away from her. Emily handed him another towel that he used to dry her off.

Twenty minutes later, Gillian was lying on the couch. Her pain was bad but she refused to take any more pain meds. "They're making me sick. When I get sick, it makes the pain even worse."

"What have you eaten today?" Cal was kneeling next to her.

Emily piped up "All she had was a piece of dry toast. I tried to get her to eat something else…"

"Love, you have to get somethin' in your stomach. Otherwise the meds are gonna keep upsettin' it."

"Then I won't take the meds. I don't need them. All they do is make me sick and then make me sleep."

"You need the sleep Gill. Your body will heal faster if it stays relaxed."

"No Cal. I'm done getting sick. I'd rather be uncomfortable."

"How many times have you gotten sick?" By the way she was talking; it was more than just today.

"Enough to know I'm done with those pills." She closed her eyes as if to say 'go away.'

Cal went into the kitchen and called Gillian's Doctor. He left a message with the after- hours service. It took 15 minutes for the doctor to call back. Cal explained what was going on. The doctor called in a prescription for an anti-nauseate. He then told Cal to bring Gillian in to his office in the morning. He wanted to make sure the vomiting was caused by the pain medicine and wasn't a sign that her head injury was worse than he thought. If she threw up any more tonight he was to take her to the Emergency room.

Cal grabbed his keys and headed for the front door. "I'll be right back Em. Don't let her off the couch."

* * *

A few hours later, Cal had gotten the anti-nauseate and had actually persuaded Gillian to take it. Now, she was sitting on the couch sipping a cup of soup.

"Thanks Cal."

"No thanks necessary love. I'm glad you're stomachs feeling better. Will you please take your pain medicine now?"

"Not now. I want to hear the CD first. I don't want to be listening to these voices half drugged out of my mind. It's too important." Gillian gave him a look that said 'decision final.'

Cal knew he wouldn't get anywhere with the pain pills at the moment. He went to his study and retrieved the disc. He came back in and put it in the player. "You ready?"

Gillian took a shaky deep breath. "Yeah. I'm ready."

Call played the CD. He watched her face for any sign that one of the voices could be 'the one.' Gillian looked at the floor and closed her eyes occasionally. She was listening intently to each voice as Cal played it. When all the voices had been played, she looked up at him and "No. None of those are it."

Cal saw her shoulders slump forward. "This is only going back 4 years. Loker and Torres will keep going tomorrow."

"I don't think it's going to matter. You know I never forget a voice Cal. If I know this person, I should all ready know who it is. But, I don't. If I know this suspect, it's not because I have ever spoken with him."

"But, Gillian. You had just been thrown into a table, you were confused, scared. Maybe, that's messin' this up somehow."

"No Cal. I have listened to those voices in my head over and over for the past three days. I don't recognize them. If I hear them again, I will know it's them. But, right now I have nothing. It just means, whoever this is knows me. But I have no idea who they are. They could walk up to me right now and unless they spoke, I wouldn't know it was them." Gillian was getting upset. She felt helpless.

Cal could see the fear on her face as she was registering what she was saying. She did not feel safe. He thought back to the look on her face when the gun was pointed at her and he could feel his anger building. "Gillian. No one is gonna get anywhere near you. I won't let it happen. We will find these bastards. We will…" Cal sat next to her on the couch and put his arm around her. She leaned into him and he could tell she was trying to control her emotions.

After Cal felt her calm down, he got up and went into the kitchen. He returned with her pain pills and a glass of water. He handed them to her and said "Please? I'll stay right here with you. You need the rest." He sat back down and put her pillow in his lap.

Gillian was really hurting. She closed her eyes in defeat. Then she took the pain medicine. Cal helped her get comfortable. She stared into space for almost a half hour. Cal started to rub her shoulder and stroke her hair. After a few minutes, she relaxed enough to fall asleep.

**TBC**


	14. Chapter 14

**I have too much fun with the Cal/Gillian banter! Hopefully it doesn't annoy anyone! **

**Things will start moving now… Enjoy!**

The night didn't go too badly. Gillian didn't throw up anymore. She did stir twice in the throes of a nightmare but Cal had been there to comfort her. She had last taken her pain meds at 4am. She was just waking at 8:00 when Cal came downstairs after his shower. "How ya feelin' love?"

"Better." She saw the skeptical look he gave her. "Seriously, a lot better." She used her left arm to push herself up slowly to a sitting position.

Cal hurried to her "Easy love. Let me help you."

"No, I can do it." She was now sitting up. She took a breath and went to stand. The pain took her over and Cal was right there.

"Ok, I've got you." He helped her to stand.

"Thanks but let me walk by myself. I need to start getting around on my own." He didn't let go.

"What are you trying to prove Gill?" Cal stuck to her like glue as she started off toward the bathroom.

"Cal. Please."

He took his hands away from her and put them up. "Fine. I won't hold on. But, I'm staying right here beside you."

Gillian rolled her eyes yet kept walking. Right as she almost reached the bathroom, she had a little dizzy spell. Cal grabbed her as she swayed.

"I'm good!" Gillian put her hand up to stop him. "I'm good." She went into the bathroom and turned to him flashing a sarcastic smile "I can take it from here."

"Okay love. But I'll be right here. No repeats of last night, yeah?"

"No Cal. No repeats. I'm fine." She shut the door, thought twice and then turned back and locked it. She knew he'd be listening and she planned on getting in the shower. With the door locked it would keep him at bay a little longer! She looked at herself in the mirror. _'Jesus. I'm a sight.' _She made her way toward the shower, thankful the fresh towel Emily had brought last night was still sitting there on the vanity. She knew she wouldn't be able to do a great job, especially on her hair. But, she needed to feel clean and at least a little independent.

Cal headed into the kitchen and made himself a cup of coffee. He had just started back toward the bathroom when he heard the shower turn on. He knocked on the door. No answer. He knocked again. "Gill?" No answer. He knocked louder. "Answer me love or I'm comin' in." He tried the door knob; locked. _'Damnit Gill!'_

"I'm fine Cal. I just need to feel clean again, by myself. Relax." Getting her clothes off was a chore, but she had done it. Gillian stepped slowly into the shower. The hot water felt good, until it started battering her bruises.

"I'm waiting right here. Key in hand." He sat down on the floor and leaned against the wall across from the bathroom door. _'Almost 8:30. I should have mentioned the doctor's appointment. If she takes too long, we'll be late.' _

Gillian did the best she could. Considering she could only use one hand and raising both of her arms above chest level hurt like hell, she managed to get shampoo in and rinsed out. She turned off the water and slowly got out of the shower. She wrapped the towel around her and leaned against the wall. She was suddenly very exhausted. She went to the door and opened it a crack. Cal was right there. "You weren't kidding." He just smiled.

"Need help love?"

"Wouldn't you love that?" She gave him another sarcastic grin. "I just need my bag please."

Cal brought her the bag and remained outside while she got dressed. She opened the door and came out. Cal gave her a look. "Can I help you now?"

As much as Gillian hated to admit it, she may have overdone it just a bit. "Yes." She looked down as if she hated depending on him. He took her hand and put his arm around her waist.

"As many times as you have taken care of me and never allowed me to return the favor, I am relishing every minute of helping you."

Gillian looked at him and saw so much caring and, what was that? Love? She looked away before he noticed she had seen what was there. Of course he loved her. She loved him. They were partners and best friends after all. Right? She told herself that's what it was. She couldn't deal with it being anything else. Not right now.

He helped her to sit on the couch. She leaned back and closed her eyes. "Too much, huh?"

"No. I'll be perfect as soon as I rest for a bit."

"Well, you've got 15 minutes. Then we'll need to be leaving."

Her eyes shot open. "What? Where are we going?"

"Doctor's appointment. We need to be there at 10:30."

"Isn't today Friday? My appointment isn't until tomorrow." Gillian was looking at him like he had gone mad.

"Originally it was for tomorrow morning. But when I called last night, he said he wanted to see you today instead."

"You talked to him last night? I thought the service just called in a prescription for me?"

"No. I spoke with him."

"Great. So, what did you tell him? Enough so he won't let me go home any time soon?" She couldn't hide her irritation from him, in fact she didn't try.

* * *

An hour later, they were in the doctor's waiting room. The nurse called Gillian's name and Cal jumped up to help her. Once she was up and walking she realized he was right with her. "I don't need you to come back with me, Cal. I'm a big girl."

Right then the doctor was coming out of another exam room and heard her comment. "Oh, I think Dr. Lightman should join us Gillian. Not that I don't trust that you will be honest with me about how you're doing. But, I know he will be."

Gillian stopped and stared. "Unbelievable…"

The doctor checked Gillian's injuries while Cal waited outside the door. Once she was re-dressed, he had Cal come in. "So, Gillian. Any dizziness? Any more vomiting?"

"No. I feel much better. I'm ready to go home-_my_ home." She glanced at Cal, daring him to contradict her.

"Well, that's not entirely true now is it?" Cal looked at her and then took a hold of her hand. "No more vomiting. But, the dizzy spells are still there and she's not getting much sleep, at least not restful sleep."

"What? I've been doing nothing but sleeping!" Gillian was flashing anger at him.

"You're having nightmares love. You're not waking up. I've been able to calm you down before you do."

The doctor looked at her "You don't remember any nightmares?"

"No." Gillian looked down embarrassed.

"It's to be expected Gillian. I know you know this… You've been through something traumatic and it's not just affecting your body. You need to take it easy and be gentle with yourself. I see you _are_ getting around better. How about you come in on Monday and we'll see how things are? Maybe by then I'll feel okay about you being on your own."

* * *

Once they were back in the car, Cal looked over at her "Mad at me?"

"A little." Gillian stared out the passenger window. Everything about her body language screamed anger.

"I'm sorry Gill. But, whether you want to admit it or not, you need help right now."

"Yes Cal. Everyone is making that abundantly clear."

The car was silent for what seemed like forever. Gillian finally spoke. "If I have to remain prisoner at your house can we at least go by my place so I can pick up a few things? Maybe check my mail?"

"Absolutely." Cal was all ready planning to go by her place, but he didn't think it would help to tell her that.

* * *

A few minutes later they were pulling up in front of her place. Cal got out and then went to help her. They got to the front door and Cal pulled her spare key out of his pocket. He opened the door and Gillian went inside. "Oh my God." She stopped short and he almost ran into her.

"What is it?" Cal tried to get around in front of her but she was frozen in her spot. He caught a glimpse of the room. He grabbed her arms and pulled her back out. "Okay, back outside."

Cal pulled out his cell phone and called 911. "I'd like to report a burglary…"

* * *

The police came. They checked the apartment and found it empty. Cal had called Noah Parker and he was just arriving as the police were allowing them to go in.

Gillian stepped through the door and looked around slowly. Nothing was broken or destroyed. The chairs were pulled out from around the table. The light bulbs had been taken out of the lamps. All of her pictures on her wall shelves were lying face down in their spots. She walked slowly into the kitchen. Bottles of wine and Scotch were out on the countertop instead of in the cabinet where they had been. Coming back into the living room, Gillian noticed several items on her coffee table. Her Pi Beta Phi alumnae book, the decorated sorority paddle she had been given by her 'little sister' her junior year in college, the most recent issue of the Duke University Alumnae Guide. Those things had all been in a cabinet in the built in wall shelves.

Noah Parker came up beside her. He saw the confused look on her face. "Gillian. Can you tell if anything is missing?"

"Um, I um, I don't know. This stuff was all put away…" Suddenly she turned and went toward her bedroom. Cal and Noah both followed her down the hall. She stopped just inside her bedroom door. Her favorite Duke sweatshirt was lying out on her bed. She went to her dresser and opened the top drawer. She pulled out a small jewelry box. She paused before opening it. Slowly she lifted the lid and let out a sigh. She put the box down. "If someone wanted the most valuable thing in here they would have taken this. It's my grandmother's jewelry. There is almost fifteen thousand dollars worth in here. And it wasn't touched."

Gillian stood staring at the floor. "So, what is this?" She turned and looked at Noah Parker. "Is this a not so subtle way of telling me to be quiet? Of letting me know they not only know who I am but where I live? And now, after the little tour they took of my apartment, they know even more." She could feel herself shaking. She knew why, she was afraid. There was no masking it.

Noah felt terrible. He wished he could make it all go away. "I would say this is some kind of message, yes."

Gillian went to her bathroom and grabbed the things she had wanted to pick up. Cal, realizing what she was doing, grabbed a bag from her closet and followed her. After she had gathered what she wanted, she walked back out to the living room. It was then that she realized her mail had been stacked neatly on the small table by the door. _'How nice of the bastards to bring my mail in.'_ she walked over and leafed through it. She stopped when she saw a padded yellow envelope. There was no return address on it. She turned it over and ripped it open. The keys to her car fell out.

**TBC**


	15. Chapter 15

**Sorry for the wait on this one. I struggled with it. Not really sure why. Sometimes the thoughts just won't process! Didn't help that my laptop and my desktop both got the "anti-virus" virus. What a pain!**

**Not mine. Yada, yada, yada… Enjoy.**

Gillian sat quietly in the passenger seat staring blankly out the window all the way back to Cal's. Cal was amazed she could hold her eyes open. He knew she was exhausted when they had gotten to the doctor's office. It was now four hours later. No lunch and no pain pills. _'I'll fix that as soon as we get in the door.'_

Cal parked the car in the driveway. He got out and went to the passenger side to help Gillian. She didn't protest or argue about his helping her to the door of the house. He could see exhaustion and pain etched on her face. He also saw the slightest hint of fear. He couldn't blame her at all for being afraid. Someone had taken her keys and gone into her apartment. Even worse, they went through her personal things. Nothing was stolen, nothing was broken. They did just enough to violate her private, safe place. Cal knew it would be hard for her. It had taken her months to feel comfortable and safe there.

When they got in, Gillian went straight to the recliner. By the time Cal got to her, her eyes were closed and her knees were curled up. "Gill. I'm gonna get you something to eat."

"Not hungry. I just want to sleep." She turned her face away from him.

"I want you to sleep too. But you need some food in your stomach. And you should take your pain medicine."

"I can sleep without it." She thought for a second and then opened her eyes. "I think I want to go to the guest room and take a nap."

"Ok love. As soon as I get you to eat some of the toast and chicken soup that Em's made for us, I will help you upstairs, yeah?"

Gillian rolled her eyes, but she was too exhausted to argue with him. Cal came over with a glass of water and her medicine. She reluctantly took it. He then brought her the toast and soup. She ate one piece of toast and about half of the mug of soup.

Emily took her dishes away. Cal finished eating and took his dishes to the sink. When he got back to Gillian, she was just about asleep. "Love, you still want to go up? You can just stay here."

"No, I want to go up." Gillian started to get up. Cal grabbed her and guided her up the stairs. He and Emily settled her in the guest room with pillows all around. Before they even left the room, she was out.

"She looks so peaceful right now. I wish she looked like that when she was awake. What happened today, Dad?" Emily was watching Gillian from the door. Cal put his arm around her and led her out of the room.

"Let's go down and I'll tell ya." They walked down stairs and sat on the couch together.

Cal explained what had happened at Gillian's apartment. Emily felt awful for her. "So, we should make her stay here, right? She might not be safe there."

"As much as I would like to keep her here, she's gonna want to go home." Cal thought for a second. He got up and went to his study. Emily followed.

"What are you doing, Dad?"

"I'm gonna call and have Gillian's locks changed. And then I'm gonna call and set up an appointment to have an alarm system installed."

* * *

Cal had fallen asleep on the couch. He woke to Emily yelling for him. He scrambled off the couch and saw her running up the stairs. He yelled for her. She answered with "Gillian!" Cal ran up after her and reached the guest bedroom right as Emily got to the bed. Gillian was screaming and kicking. Emily wasn't sure what to do and was more than a little panicked. Cal pulled her aside and grabbed Gillian's shoulders.

"Gillian! Wake up!" He shook her shoulders. Her eyes flew open and she had a terrified look on her face. She tried to pull away from Cal. He held on and made sure she could see his face. "It's me! Look at me!" He felt her calm slightly. "It's me, love." When she realized what was happening, she pushed him and turned away from him. He could see that she was embarrassed and ashamed. He let go of her. He looked over at Emily who was still watching. She looked scared. Cal caught her eye, put his hand up and nodded at her. She slowly left the room pulling the door shut behind her.

Gillian had buried her face in her pillow. She was so embarrassed. _'I just want to go home. I want to be where I can feel all this without an audience.' _She was trying her hardest not to cry.

Cal saw her struggling to get control. He put a hand on her shoulder. She flinched away."Don't Gill. Don't shut me out." She was shaking her head now. "And please don't be embarrassed. You know what this is. It's normal."

"That doesn't make it easier or any less embarrassing." Gillian removed her face from the pillow, but still didn't look at Cal.

Cal took her hand in his. "I know love. I know." He felt her squeeze his hand. Then she looked at him and he could see on her face that even though she felt humiliated, she was glad he was there.

* * *

Cal went to Gillian's apartment the next morning and met with the locksmith. He had spoken with Loker Friday evening about her car. Loker and Torres had checked the security footage from the garage. No one had so much as given Gillian's car a second glance. At least now they knew her car hadn't been tampered with. His next stop would be having the locks changed on that. The alarm company couldn't meet with him at Gillian's apartment until Monday afternoon. Luckily, the previous tenant had a system installed. All that had to be done was a slight re-wiring by the new company so there would be no waiting for that.

* * *

Gillian had done well all weekend. A few more nightmares, but they were easing up. She was able to get up by herself and she was getting around pretty easily. She stood in the bathroom looking at her face in the mirror. "Wow. Nice. At least the dark purple is gone." _'You should feel grateful. You could have ended up like the other two. Dead.'_

Cal had driven her to the doctor's office. This time he let her go in by herself. The doctor had given her the okay to go home. While she was glad of it, she couldn't help the anxiety she was feeling about being alone there. She would be okay. That's what she kept telling herself. Cal had the locks changed and the security system would be activated this afternoon.

Cal drove Gillian back to his place to get all her stuff. In the car he tried to persuade her to stay at his house a little longer. She wasn't having it. After they collected her things, she thanked Emily (who tried again to get her to stay). Cal then, against his better judgment, drove her home.

Cal unlocked the door with the new keys. Gillian went in and immediately noticed that everything had been cleaned up. The police had left fingerprint powder all over, but now it was gone. The bulbs were back in the lamps and the pictures were back in there places.

Gillian turned to Cal "You didn't have to do all that."

"It was nothing. I had to be here while they changed the locks, so I made myself useful." Cal grinned at her and then took her arm and led her into the kitchen. "I stocked the fridge for you. And, before you ask, there is chocolate pudding." Gillian smiled a big, genuine smile that warmed his heart. _'My God woman, you're easy to please.' _"I replenished your alcohol, not that you should to be drinking any of it, what with the medication you're takin' and all. But, if you have company, you know…"

"Oh, I see. Funny, it's your favorite brands. Does this mean you are planning to visit frequently Dr. Lightman?" Gillian looked at him sideways.

"Well, I promise not to be a nuisance, at least not on purpose. I figure I should check on you though, right?" He looked at her expectantly with a sheepish grin.

"You're incorrigible Cal." She couldn't help but grin back at him.

* * *

Cal called Noah Parker later that evening. Noah had taken Gillian's old car keys and the envelope to have them processed for fingerprints. "So, you find any prints?"

"No. Everything was clean. But, then I kind of expected that." Noah wished he had better news. "How is Gillian?"

"She's doin' okay. She went home today." Gillian would be pissed at him for this "Noah is there any way you can have an officer keep an eye on her place?"

"Step ahead of you Cal. I all ready set it up. The beat officer has been given instructions to stay on her street whenever he's not on a call. It's also set up that when any of the sector officer's is on paper they will be there also."

"Thanks Noah. I really appreciate it."

* * *

Gillian was lying in her bed in the dark. Despite having taken the pain pills, her brain wouldn't stop. The front door was locked and the new alarm system was set. She was safe. So, why couldn't she sleep? Maybe because every time she closed her eyes she saw a gun pointed at her and someone she _should_ know screaming at her. She played the voices over and over and over in her head. But, she couldn't place them.

She woke to her phone ringing. She answered it as she looked at the clock; 9:30. She wasn't expecting to sleep so late! "Hello?"

"Hey love. How you feeling this morning?" Cal hoped he wasn't calling too early.

"I'm fine Cal. You know you won't need to check on me constantly. I'm really okay."

"Sorry. I just wanted to be sure. First night back in your place and all…" Suddenly, he felt stupid for calling her.

Gillian smiled. "I do appreciate it Cal. But, you need to get some work done at the office. You've done enough babysitting for me over the last week. One of us has to keep the business afloat." Her voice was filled with sarcasm.

"Oh, no worries love. It's under control, so, no using that as an excuse to come back before next week."

"Next week? Cal, there is no way I'm staying here in this apartment until next week!"

"Okay, I have to go now love. Call me if you need anything." Cal hung up the phone.

'_There is absolutely no way I am staying here until Monday. He has lost his mind.'_

**TBC**


	16. Chapter 16

**Had some issues with document manager...so-chapter 1 got deleted and then posted again as chapter 15. I have no idea how to fix it!!! But here's chapter 16.**

**Sorry for the delay. Been very busy the past week or so. Hopefully the next chapter will be quicker than this one!**

**I own nothing…sadly.**

The day dragged on and on for Gillian. She read for a bit, watched a movie and then read some more. She was going stir crazy. _'I need my laptop. And maybe a few files to work on.' _She had an idea.

"Dr. Foster?"

"Yes, Ria, it's me."

"Is everything okay? If you need Dr. Lightman, I'm pretty sure he's around here."

"No. No, I don't need Cal. I actually just need for you to bring me a few things from my office."

"Oh. Let me guess. You don't want Dr. Lightman to know I'm bringing you anything, right?"

"Uh, well, if you could be discreet that would be lovely." Gillian knew the predicament she was putting Torres in, but she couldn't call Loker or Reynolds. Loker would be too honest if Cal caught him and Reynolds would never bring her anything. He would give her the same lecture as Cal. She should be resting and getting better… ugh.

An hour later, Gillian heard the knock on her door. She opened it to find Ria with her laptop and an arm full of files. "Thank you so much, Ria. You are a life saver." Gillian stepped aside so Ria could come in but she didn't move. "Ria?" Gillian realized Ria was staring at her. "It looks worse than it is, really."

"Oh my God. Your face…" Ria was wide eyed and had the saddest expression on her face. She slowly came in keeping her eyes on Gillian the whole time.

Gillian had forgotten that no one from the office had seen her since this had happened. Cal knew she wouldn't want anyone to see her looking so fragile and 'beat up.' He had kept everyone away. "It actually looks pretty good now. You should have seen it a few days ago. The doctor said the scar from the stitches will barely be visible once it heals all the way."

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to stare." Ria said as she finally made herself look away.

Gillian laughed. "It's okay Ria. I really appreciate you bringing this stuff to me. My car is still in the garage and Cal hasn't given me the new keys yet. Otherwise I would have snuck in myself and gotten this." She took the files and set them on the coffee table. "Cal doesn't know you're here, right?"

"Well, I told him I was going by your place to say hello. You know you can't lie to that man! A partial truth is easier to get past. I think he was happy that I was coming by. He's worried about you. You know that, right?"

"Yes, Ria. I know that. And I know he means well, but he needs to let me rejoin the land of the functioning at some point. I'm going nuts here!" Gillian walked toward the kitchen. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"No, I'm good." Ria went in and sat on the couch. "So, how are you, really?"

Gillian responded as she came from the kitchen with her glass of water "I'm fine. I'll admit it's a bit frustrating to think I might have the key to this whole thing in my head somewhere. But, I can't place that voice."

"Dr. Lightman told us about the break in here. Aren't you a little afraid?" Ria was looking at her with concern.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little spooked, but I can't hide out forever. I need things to get back to normal, at least as normal as they can be."

The two women talked for almost an hour. Ria caught Gillian up on all the office gossip, they went over a few cases and they even discussed the handsome Detective Parker. It was a nice visit. Right as Ria was leaving, Cal called. He told Gillian he was bringing her dinner. As soon as she had locked the door, she went and put the work files in the storage drawer under the coffee table. No need for Cal to see those.

* * *

Gillian had accessed her work files on the computer and had been going through old files looking for anything that might help her figure out who the suspects were. She had opened a game of solitaire and started playing it. It was minimized so she could easily pull it up and close out the work stuff when Cal arrived.

Cal knocked on the door at 6:30. She went and opened the door for him. He stood there for a moment just looking at her and then made his way in "You didn't even ask who it was. You should be more careful."

"Good God Cal! I knew you were coming!" Gillian rolled her eyes and followed him to the kitchen. She started removing cartons from the bags he had brought in.

Cal grabbed her arm. "I'm concerned about you. Can you please just humor me and act like you're concerned for your own safety?" She stopped and looked at him.

"Cal. I appreciate your concern, I really do. And I am very thankful for everything you and Emily have done for me. But, I'm not helpless. If I hadn't known you were coming, I would have been more careful about opening the door. I swear."

Cal looked at her sideways. "Love, these people mean business. I know you aren't helpless. But, you do need to be careful and asking who is at the door is a smart thing to do, yeah?" He was right in front of her now holding her upper arms and looking straight into her eyes.

"You're right. I'm sorry. I'm just so anxious to get things back to normal. I'm going crazy here."

Cal brushed off that comment. "Don't you have romance novels to read and chick flicks to watch?"

"Even I can only handle so much of that!" They both laughed. Gillian got the silverware and Cal grabbed the plates and they headed into the living room. Cal got there first and stopped short when he saw her laptop.

"What is that doing here?" He put the plates down and picked up the laptop.

Gillian came in behind him. "Ria brought it to me when she came by today. We had a nice visit."

Cal saw the solitaire open. "Do you expect me to believe that you've been playing solitaire all afternoon?"

"I expect you will believe whatever you want to believe, Cal." Gillian rolled her eyes at him and sat down on the couch. She grabbed a carton and started putting food on her plate. She figured Cal would get distracted with making sure she was eating enough. She was right. She had placed a very small amount of fried rice on her plate.

"Is that all you're going to eat?" Cal put down the laptop and sat next to her. He took the carton from her and started putting more on her plate.

"Cal! Stop!" Gillian pulled her plate away. "My stomach isn't ready for that much!"

He stopped and looked at her. "What have you eaten today?"

"We are not discussing this. I am a big girl. I can take care of feeding myself."

"Don't take this the wrong way Gill, but I've seen those jeans on you before. You aren't filling them out so much anymore."

Gillian felt her cheeks getting warm. "Since when do you notice my jeans?"

Cal chuckled. "I notice everything about you, love." He hoped she wouldn't see the hidden meaning in his words. He didn't think either of them was ready for that.

She looked at him and laughed. "That is true. I can't get anything past you." _'Usually. But tonight you did fall for the lap top thing.'_

Once they finished dinner, Cal helped her clean up the dishes. Gillian yawned as they walked back into the living room. Cal took that as his cue to leave. Before he left, he gave her the new car keys he had for her. Gillian thanked him for dinner and for taking care of the lock change on her car. He said good night and then waited outside the door until it was locked and he heard her set the alarm.

* * *

Gillian had another restless night. Her back was giving her a fit, but she didn't want to take the pain pills. She held off until 2:30 in the morning. She couldn't take it anymore. She popped a pain pill and sat down on the couch. She turned on some late night crap on the TV. She didn't want to watch anything interesting. _'Maybe I can bore myself to sleep.'_

Gillian woke to banging noise coming from the kitchen. She jumped up panicked. She saw the clock on the cable box. It read 11:37. The banging continued. She walked slowly through the living room. She saw the panel and realized her alarm had been turned off. Just as she got to the kitchen door way, someone ran right into her. She screamed. She felt someone grab her arms.

"Gillian! It's okay, it's me!" Cal felt horrible for scaring her. She was shaking and he put his arms around her to calm her.

When she finally calmed down, she hit Cal and yelled at him "What the hell, Cal? Are you trying to scare me to death?" She pushed away from him.

"I'm sorry love. I didn't mean to scare you. But, you gave me a good fright yourself. I've been calling all morning and you weren't answering."

"I didn't… hear… my phone… Where is my phone?" Gillian looked around confused.

"I found it charging on your night table. But, you weren't in your bedroom. You were on the couch, with no phone."

"Oh. Right. I was on the couch." '_Don't ask me why I was on the couch.' _

"So, couldn't sleep, heh? Pain too much or what?" '_Obviously you took a pain pill. Go on try to deny it.'_

"Cal…" She looked down and away. Gillian knew she was answering the question by not answering the question.

Cal studied her for a moment. They made eye contact. He saw the silent plea asking him to drop it. He gave her a look that said he knew she was having problems but he would let it go for now.

Cal went back into the kitchen and resumed the noise he had been making. Gillian followed him. "What are you doing? Shouldn't you be at the office?"

"I'm making us some lunch. After we eat, I'll head back to the office."

* * *

A few hours later, Gillian had taken a hot shower and was sitting on her couch working on the files Ria had brought to her the day before. Her cell phone rang. She recognized the number, but couldn't place it.

"Hello?"

"Gillian, hey. It's Noah Parker. Is this a bad time?"

"No, I'm sitting here bored to death. Any interruption is welcome." _'Especially one from a certain, handsome detective.'_

Noah laughed. "How long until you can go back to work?"

"Uh, well, I didn't really ask. But with Cal as my partner, I'm fighting an uphill battle."

"Well, don't rush it. Enjoy your time off." '_I would be glad to come by and help you pass the time…'_

"I'd rather be at the office. I don't handle free time well. I'm much better at being busy. But, enough of that, why are you calling? Did you get something on the case?" Gillian asked hopefully.

"Actually, yes. We found the gun. It was recovered in a drug raid last week over in South West. The ballistics just came back and it was a match."

"So, who did it belong to? Did they catch the guy?" Gillian felt her heart beating faster.

"Well, the gun was stolen from a police officer in Alexandria. There were prints on it that we ran through AFIS. We got a hit, but the hit was a black male. The guy in the sandwich shop was white." Noah thought she would be excited but now after hearing himself telling her the news, he realized it wasn't anything concrete like she was hoping to hear.

"Oh." Gillian tried to hide the disappointment in her voice. It wasn't his fault. He was working the case as hard as he could.

"The good thing is now we have someone to look for. We broadcast a lookout to all the area jurisdictions for the guy in the print hit. When someone gets him, we can question him about how he came to be in possession of the gun. The hope is he can lead us to our guy."

"Oh, that's great. At least the gun is off the street. Thanks for working so hard on this Noah. I hope you don't think I'm ungrateful."

"No, not at all. You don't have to thank me, this is why I do this job. I don't like to see innocent people getting hurt."

"Well, it doesn't sound like that owner was so innocent."

"No, he wasn't. But, you are Gillian. You did not deserve what happened to you." He got nervous when she didn't respond to that. "Gillian?"

"I'm here. I'm sorry, I just…" She wasn't sure what to say to that. _'How could this man be so sweet?'_

"Wow. I've done it again haven't I? I really don't mean to keep making you uncomfortable." Now, Noah was embarrassed.

"No. You didn't make me uncomfortable. I think you're sweet." '_Jesus, how stupid did that sound?'_

"Well, thank you." Noah was glad they were on the phone so she didn't see him blush. "Anyway, I need to see you again to get the final set of pictures."

"Ugh. I really hate that. When?"

Noah laughed. "I don't know why you seem to hate cameras so much. You're a beautiful woman. I don't think anyone could take a bad picture of you."

Now Gillian was glad they were on the phone so he couldn't see her blushing. "Um, thank you."

"Uh, yeah, so… How about Friday? I could come by your place mid morning?"

"That will work. It's not like I'm going anywhere. So, I'll see you Friday." Gillian couldn't help but smile.

"Okay. I'll see you Friday. Goodbye Gillian."

"Bye Noah." Gillian hung up and smiled to herself. It felt good to be flirted with.

**TBC**


	17. Chapter 17

**I got the chapter issue fixed, so all is right now!**

**Thanks so much for the reviews. I love the feedback. And I'm thankful no one **_**completely**_** hates me for the Noah Parker character. He really is a great guy, I promise!**

**Standard disclaimers still apply…**

Gillian gave in and took a pain pill earlier that night. She had decided she needed to get back on a normal schedule that didn't include sleeping until almost noon and being awake half the night. By 11pm, she was sleeping soundly. The problem with that was she hadn't been sleeping very well. She woke up at 4am and couldn't go back to sleep. She got up, showered, got dressed and called a cab. By 6am, she was walking into the lobby of The Lightman Group. She knew she would only have a few hours at the most before people started arriving for their workday. Her goal was to be gone by 8am. She hadn't dressed for work and had no intention of letting people see her in her jeans and lavender polo shirt. Especially not with these bruises on her face.

Gillian cleaned up her office, pulled some files she wanted to take with her, and put away the files she had left on her desk the day she left. She sat in her desk chair and thought about how she had left the office and walked to the sandwich shop just 10 days ago. The whole thing replayed in her mind. She was lost in thought and didn't notice her office door opening. Cal walked over to her and started to speak before she even realized he was in the room.

"Gill?" He walked closer. "Gill?"

Gillian jumped and gasped. "Cal! You scared me."

"Sorry love. But if you were at home where you should be, I wouldn't have scared you. What are you doing here?"

"I came to get my car and I figured I would straighten my office while I was here. Why are you here so early? What time is it?" Gillian turned in her chair to look at her clock. _'8:30. Damn. I've got to get out of here.'_

"Come on love. I'll sneak you out the back door." Cal knew Gillian would be mortified if any of the employee's saw her dressed like that _and_ without makeup covering her bruises.

"Thanks Cal." Gillian gave him a smile.

* * *

By the time Gillian made her way to the garage, got her car, and drove home, she was exhausted. She went straight to the couch and curled up in the cushions.

Gillian woke to her cell phone ringing. She scrambled to find it. It was in her purse, which she had dropped on the table when she came in. The ringing stopped before she could grab it. She checked the caller ID and saw it was Cal. He had left a message.

"Gill. You okay? I hadn't heard from you. I just wanted to make sure you got home okay. I'll call again in a few minutes. And if you don't answer, I'm comin' over. It's lunchtime anyway and I did rather enjoy lunch at your place yesterday. Anyway, call me when you get this."

Gillian was smiling to herself. He really could be quite charming. It was almost noon. She couldn't believe he had actually waited that long to call. She called him back as she walked to the front door. As she opened the door to retrieve her mail, he answered.

"Hello love."

"Hello Cal. I'm fine. I've been home for a while now." Gillian had taken her mail out of the box and was walking into her apartment looking through it. "You'll be happy to know I even took-" She stopped short when she saw a yellow padded envelope with no return address and no postage. She felt panicked. She quickly got inside the door and locked it behind her.

"Took what?" No answer. "Gill?"

"I'm here." Gillian knew her voice sounded shaky, probably because she felt shaky. The envelope had been placed in her mailbox. Not delivered. That meant someone had come to her apartment and been right outside the door while she was napping.

"Gillian? What's going on? Are you all right?"

"Uh, yeah. I got an envelope out of my mailbox…" She stood staring at it. She had all ready dropped the other mail on the floor.

"What do you mean?" Cal stood and grabbed his car keys. He could hear in her voice that something wasn't right. He was all ready heading out the door before she spoke again.

"I mean I found a yellow padded envelope in my mailbox with my mail. No return address and no postage. My name's written on it. Just like the other one." Gillian could feel herself panicking. She squeezed the envelope. It felt like her cell phone. She tore it open and her old cell phone fell out. It was on. It beeped right after it hit the floor.

"I'm on my way there! Don't open it!" Cal was heading toward his car in the garage.

"I all ready did. It's my cell phone. It's on. A text message just came through." Gillian was in a fog. She picked up the phone and pressed the button to retrieve the text. She read it. "Oh. My. God."

"Gillian?" Cal couldn't hear anything. "Gillian!"

"They're here Cal. They must be right outside." Gillian was holding her breath. She was afraid to move.

"What's going on?"

"They can see me. They know I just took this package in the house." She was frozen in place. She knew she should be doing something, but she couldn't move.

"Get away from the windows! Go to the back of the apartment! Did you lock the door?" Cal was frantic.

"Yes, the door is locked." Gillian was heading for her bedroom.

"You'll be fine love. Stay calm, okay? I'm almost there. I'm gonna hang up now and call Noah. Then I'll call you right back okay?"

"Okay." _'Stay calm. You'll be fine. Stay calm.' _

Cal called Noah and told him what was going on. As he was approaching Gillian's neighborhood, he could hear the sirens.

Cal called Gillian back. "You okay?"

"Yes. I'm okay. Did you reach Noah?"

"Yeah. I'm assuming the sirens you should be hearing are coming to your place. I'm almost there. Don't come to the door. I have the spare key." Cal was parking on her street now.

"Okay." Gillian felt better knowing he was close.

* * *

Cal used the key and went in Gillian's apartment. "Gill?!"

Gillian came down the hall and he ran to her. He put his arms around her and she sank into him. He guided her toward the couch. She sat down. "You okay love?"

"Yeah. I'm okay. A little freaked out, but okay."

Two police officers had come in behind Cal. Before they could ask any questions, Noah Parker stormed through the door. He looked at Gillian. "Are you okay?"

Gillian nodded her head.

"Where is the phone?" Noah was looking around.

"I dropped it. It should be on the floor over there." Gillian pointed to where she had been standing with the mail.

Noah put on latex gloves and then carefully picked up the phone. "When did you get this message?"

"Right after I got inside and opened the envelope." Gillian stood up and walked toward him with Cal right on her heels.

Noah pulled up the message and read it out loud "Glad to see you up and about. You look beautiful in lavender. Impressive alarm system. Does it make you feel safe?"

Gillian was shaking. Cal put his arm around her. "Noah. What can we do? She isn't safe here."

"I'll arrange to have a unit outside 24/7. I think that's more than justified at this point." Noah could see that Gillian was upset about all of this.

Cal turned to Gillian "why don't you come back to my place? You'll be safer there."

"No, Cal. I won't run from these people. I can't do that. They're messing with my head and I won't let them win." Gillian turned away from both men and walked into the kitchen. She got a glass and began filling it with water.

Cal looked at Noah and shook his head then followed Gillian into the kitchen. He saw her gulping down water. He knew what that meant. Whenever Gillian felt about to cry she would drink. She told him once that the act of swallowing helped to calm her and keep the tears at bay.

"Gill, please don't fight me on this. I'm worried about you. Come to my place."

"No, Cal. I can't run from them. They are sending me these messages because they don't know what I saw that day. It's like a test. If I run and hide, they will assume I know more than I do. They will think that I can ID them."

"But you can ID them!" Cal was frustrated. _'Why can't you just let me help you? Let me protect you.'_

"Not by sight. If they walk right up to me I won't know them unless they speak. I'm actually better off seeing them because I _won't_ know them. Once they think I don't know them, maybe they'll leave me alone."

Cal didn't want to admit how much sense that made. He didn't like it, but she was right. He turned to Noah who was just walking into the kitchen "How soon can you have an officer here?"

"Just put the call in. The Lieutenant gave the okay, so as soon as they can have someone assigned, they'll be here."

* * *

Cal and Noah had both stayed with Gillian until the officer showed up. Cal then went back to the office with the promise that he would be back to eat dinner with her. Noah had left after reminding her he would see her in the morning for the final round of pictures of her injuries. Gillian had sat on her couch after they both had left. Her emotions had caught up with her. She had been able to hold the tears while she had people with her, but now as she sat alone, she allowed herself to cry.

**TBC**


	18. Chapter 18

**Struggled with this one. I hope everyone approves. **

**No ownership…blah, blah,blah…**

Cal showed up at 6:30. He had called and asked what Gillian wanted him to bring but she had insisted she was going to cook. She needed the distraction. She decided on Chicken Marsala.

Gillian heard the knock and approached the door. She paused for a second. As if he sensed what she was feeling, he announced himself. "It's me love!"

Gillian let out a deep sigh and opened the door. Cal handed her a box "I brought dessert."

Gillian smiled. "Is this what I think it is?" She took the box and headed for the kitchen.

Cal followed. "If you're thinking it's your favorite chocolate cake, then yes it is. What smells so wonderful?"

"Chicken Marsala. It's been a long time since I made it; I hope I got it right." Gillian busied herself with the cooking and didn't notice Cal studying her.

Cal could see how tired she was. She wasn't standing as straight and tall as she normally did. Her shoulders were bent forward and her face had a defeated look. It killed him to see her like this. She was such a strong woman and this whole mess was really taking a toll on her. In the bright light in the kitchen he could see how pale her skin was. It was obvious she had done some crying this afternoon. No one else would have noticed, but Cal could see traces of puffiness around her eyes. "You look tired love. I wish you hadn't insisted on cooking."

"I like to cook Cal. Not to mention, it gave me something to do besides sit on my couch all day and think." Gillian had needed to do something. Thinking got her nowhere positive at the moment. The more she thought, the worse she felt. "I'm not really tired. I actually took a nap today before I… checked the mail…" She got lost in deep thought about the cell phone and the text message. Then she shook her head to clear it. She jumped when she felt Cal's hands on her shoulders.

He wanted to take her into his arms and tell her everything would be all right. But he wasn't quite convinced himself that everything was going to be all right. So he walked over to her as she was lost in thought and simply put his hands on her shoulders. She had jumped slightly, but he didn't take his hands away.

Gillian felt herself sink forward and she gripped the counter top. She was determined not to cry again. She tried to move away from him. She knew the physical contact would weaken her resolve. Cal wasn't letting go. He spun her around and put his arms around her. She couldn't stop the tears then. She hugged her arms in close to her and buried her face in his chest.

Cal could feel it when she broke. She folded in on herself and the tears came hard and fast. He knew he shouldn't have forced it, but he convinced himself she shouldn't hold it in. Gillian buckled and sank to the floor. Cal went right with her. They sat on the kitchen floor, her crying and him holding on to her. After several minutes, Gillian calmed. She pulled back and wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry. I thought I was done for the day." She was trying to make light of it, but Cal saw the shame and embarrassment all over her face.

"No apologies Gill. You've been through a hell of a lot over the last few weeks. No one expects you to be superwoman." Cal got up and then helped Gillian up. "Go sit down love. I'll finish up here."

"No, it's almost done. I just need to drain the pasta and get the garlic bread from the oven. You could set the table, if you want." Gillian smiled at him, but it didn't reach her eyes.

Cal set the table and then opened the bottle of wine Gillian had out. They both fixed their plates and sat down to eat.

Dinner was spent mostly in silence. Cal caught her up on a few cases at work and marveled at how good the Chicken Marsala was, but mostly they just quietly enjoyed each other's company. After they finished eating, Cal grabbed the dishes and sent Gillian to the couch. He cleaned up the kitchen and after 15 minutes went into the living room to find her curled up on one end of the couch fast asleep. He thought about waking her up but then decided to let her sleep for a bit. He pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and covered her up.

Cal turned on the TV and sat on the opposite end of the couch. He flipped through the channels. He wasn't concentrating on what he was seeing. He was deep in thought about the whole situation with Gillian. Who could be behind this? How did they know where she lived? He glanced over at her. She hadn't moved. He wondered if she was still having nightmares. _'Why won't you come back to my place? I could protect you there.'_

Cal wasn't sure when he fell asleep. He woke to Gillian rubbing his shoulder and gently saying his name. "Cal? Cal?"

"What's wrong love?" Cal opened his eyes and tried to focus on her.

"Nothing's wrong. It's after 10:00. Shouldn't you get home to Emily?"

"Nah, she's at her mom's. Zoe got back yesterday. Em will be there 'til Sunday. So, I'm good."

Gillian was glad she wasn't keeping him from his daughter. But, he probably should go home. She couldn't ask him to stay. That would give him more ammunition to drag her back to his place. She knew she had to be tough. She needed to be able to take care of herself. "You should get going before it gets too late."

"Are you chasing me off Foster?" Cal knew she was asserting herself to prove she was tough enough to handle everything. "I can sleep on the couch. It's rather comfy."

"No Cal. I'll be fine. There's an officer right outside. Everything will be fine." Gillian knew Cal would catch that she was saying that to help convince herself to believe it.

"Okay love." _'I'll let you be tough, but I don't have to be happy about it.' _"Call me if you need me. Seriously, Gill. The phone will be right next to me, doesn't matter what time. Okay?" Cal was off the couch now and standing in front of her.

"Thank you." Gillian reached up and hugged him. It felt safe and comforting.

Cal hugged her close in return. _'My God this feels so right. Bloody hell, I need to leave.'_ "No thanks necessary. It's my pleasure."

Gillian walked Cal to the door. Before he left, Cal thanked her for dinner and made her to promise to call if she needed him. He made sure she locked the door and set the alarm before he walked away.

* * *

Gillian hadn't slept much. She tried, even took a pain pill when her back was relentlessly aching. The best she did was doze for an hour at a time. She lost count of the number of times she looked out the window to make sure the officer was still there.

By 8am, Gillian was on her second cup of coffee. She had worked the company budget for the next month and gone through two case files pulling out notes for her final report. By 9:00, she had gotten a phone call from Cal, taken a shower and made herself somewhat presentable for Detective Parker's visit.

She sat down on the couch with a new romance novel. At 10:30 she was woken by her cell phone ringing. She saw the caller ID. It was Noah Parker. "Hello?"

"Hey, Gillian. I know I said I would be there mid morning, but I'm stuck on a Bank Robbery. I should be able to get there around 12:30 or 1:00. Is that convenient for you?" He hoped he wasn't messing up any plans she had for the day.

"Sure. That's fine. I'm not going anywhere!"

"Oh, good. Um, if you want I could bring some lunch…" He hoped she wouldn't get offended by his asking. _'It's not like a date. I'm just being nice, right?'_

"You don't have to do that. I would love it if you could stay for lunch though. I'll make something. If that's okay with you, I mean if you have time." _'Jesus Gillian! Shut up!'_

'_Did she just ask me to stay for lunch?' _"I would like that very much, as long as it's no trouble."

"No trouble at all. I would enjoy the company." Gillian could feel her face flush. She was sure he could hear the smile in her voice.

"Great. I'll see you in a few hours." Gillian could hear the smile in his voice also.

They hung up and Gillian went to the kitchen to figure out what she would make for lunch.

* * *

Just before 1pm, Gillian heard a knock at her door. She went to open it and could hear Noah's voice. He was having a conversation with the officer that was out front. She opened the door and saw Noah with the biggest smile plastered on his face. It was almost a look of embarrassment. "What's so funny?" Gillian asked him as her own smile spread across her face.

He looked back toward the officer with a 'just shut-up now' look. He then looked at Gillian with a sweet, shy look and said "oh it's nothing."

'_Well, it wasn't nothing. But maybe I should let it go.' _Gillian gave him a skeptical look.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot who I was talking to. Okay, it wasn't nothing exactly. But it's nothing important and definitely nothing we need to talk about!" Noah felt like he was digging himself into a hole.

Gillian stepped back shaking her head and motioned him inside. Noah walked past her and she shut the door. "So, Detective, are you hungry or would you rather take care of business first? "

"Let's get the business out of the way first." Noah walked into the living room. He removed the camera from his pocket. He turned to see the pained look on Gillian's face. "Quick and painless. I promise."

Gillian gave a sarcastic grin. "If you say so. Getting my picture taken is not my favorite thing. I'm sorry to be such a pain. I just really hate this." She was looking down as she walked over to him. Right as she looked up, he flashed a picture of her. "Hey!" She put her hands up to block her face.

Noah was laughing. "You are a natural beauty." He snapped another picture of her as she looked at him with surprise all over her face. "See that, you make the cutest faces." He started backing away from her still snapping photos.

Gillian was moving toward him. She was trying to block her face and grab the camera at the same time. She was laughing and yelling at him "Noah Parker! You put that camera down!"

"No way! I need these pictures. They're for the case!" He backed into a chair and stumbled off balance. Gillian took advantage of this and grabbed the camera. She quickly ducked his arm and turned her back to him.

"These pictures, Detective Parker, have nothing to do with the case!" She was still laughing and trying to delete the pictures when he reached around her from behind and trying to snatch the camera.

"Oh no! No deleting! These are too cute." They were laughing. Noah grabbed her around the waist with one arm and gently held her still. He got one hand on the camera. "Okay, okay. Truce? I'll stop taking random photos if you promise not to delete what's on there."

Gillian could feel his strong arm around her and his breath on her neck. He was being very gentle. Her heart was beating so fast and she felt flushed. "That's your offer?"

Noah laughed. "Dr. Foster, I don't believe you are in any position to argue."

"Hm. I'll agree if I can decide which photos get left on there." Gillian was smiling. Truthfully she was enjoying every second of this. Well, except the part where Noah now had several awful photos of her.

"Okay. I'll compromise. You have the power to delete two of the photos. I'll let you choose."

"Two? Only two? How many did you take?" Gillian was feigning anger at him, but she could also tell he knew better.

He let go of her waist and she turned to look at him. "I honestly don't know! I was just snapping away."

"Well, you are telling the truth about that." She gave him a lame 'evil' eye.

"Okay Dr. Foster. Let's get the pictures I really need then we can discuss the fate of the others over lunch. How does that sound?" He was grinning at her.

"All right. I guess this way I can tell if you're trustworthy."

He took the pictures of her injuries. It was awkward, but not as bad as the second time. At least now she could stand on her own and pull her own clothing out of the way.

Once the pictures were done, she had him sit at the table. She came in with chicken salad sandwiches on whole wheat bread, fresh fruit salad, and lemonade. They discussed the case while they ate. There had been no new developments. Noah explained how he wasn't surprised about that.

"We're looking at very experienced people here. They haven't left any evidence behind. I believe we can catch them, but we need a little luck on our side. They've just been covering their tracks so well."

"I'm sorry I can't be of more help. I just didn't see anything. But, I swear Noah, when I hear those voices again, I will know them." Gillian looked away from him. She felt incredibly bad that she couldn't give the police anything helpful.

"No apologies Gillian. Eventually, they'll get caught. We just have to keep our eyes open so we don't miss anything." He was looking at her with such concern. It made her heart flutter.

After they finished eating, they both carried their dishes to the kitchen. Noah helped her clean up and then they both sat in the living room. He was on the couch. Gillian sat in the chair across the coffee table from him.

He took out the camera. "So, you want to edit these?"

She smiled and said "Absolutely!" She walked over and sat next to him on the couch. They flipped through the photos. Gillian thought they were all terrible. Noah thought they were all beautiful. After much debate, Gillian deleted three photos and allowed him to keep three.

Noah got quiet and was staring at his hands. Gillian wasn't sure what had happened. "Noah, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all. Maybe that's the problem."

Gillian was confused. "I'm sorry. I'm not following you. Is this about the case?"

"No. It's not about the case. It's about you." Noah looked up at her with questioning eyes. "At the risk of being even more unprofessional than I all ready have been today, I'm going to be honest with you."

"That's probably a good thing because if you lie to me, I'll know." Gillian tried a small smile hoping to ease the tension that had just taken over the room.

"Yeah, and there's that." Noah smiled. He looked down and then back up at her. "I am very attracted to you. I've been trying to deny it, but it's like you put this little spell on me or something. I think about you all the time."

Gillian's eyes got wide. _'Did he just say he was attracted to me?' _"Oh. I don't know what to say."

Noah stood up. "No need to say anything. I should have kept it to myself. I'm sorry."

Gillian stood. "No. I'm glad you said something." She looked at him and waited for him to look at her. When he finally did, she smiled at him. "I think it's nice. I think you're nice, and sweet, and attractive…"

She paused. They were staring at each other and suddenly Noah leaned down and gave her gentle kiss. His lips were so soft. He stepped back and looked at her, waiting for whatever response she might have.

Gillian felt the butterflies in her stomach. Her voice wouldn't work. He smiled at her. "Well, you didn't smack me. Does that mean the kiss was okay? I don't want to scare you away."

"Oh, no I um… no uh…" Gillian was flustered and embarrassed at her complete inability to form logical words. She shook her head to clear it. "You didn't scare me at all. The kiss was _very_ okay."

"Thank God." Noah let out a deep breath. "Gillian would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow night? We don't have to actually go out, especially if you're not up for that yet. I could pick up something and maybe a movie and come over here…"

"That would be great. I would really like that." Gillian was smiling at him and he was smiling back.

"Okay then. Thai food okay?"

"Yes, that's fine."

"How about 7:00? Is that too late, too early?"

"No that's perfect." He was walking toward the door now and she was following him. When he reached the door he turned "Can I kiss you again?"

Gillian nodded her head. Noah leaned down and gave her another gentle, albeit longer, kiss.

"I'll see you tomorrow Gillian."

"Yeah, tomorrow. Bye." Gillian shut the door behind him. She leaned up against it and smiled. _'Wow.'_

**TBC**


	19. Chapter 19

**Thanks for sticking with me! I want to apologize to those who find Noah's actions unprofessional. Police Officers do not generally act like this. Although, I have a few co-workers who have met their spouses through casework. In real life, the detective would have waited until the case was resolved before making any moves. But, my impatience to get this going between them overruled my desire to keep it 'true to life.' So, he pounced early! Purely fiction here!**

**No ownership-still. Can you believe it??**

* * *

Gillian felt a little lighter that afternoon. It had been so long since she had received romantic attention from any man. She had been separated from Alec for almost five months, but the attention she had gotten from him for the six months previous to that was anything but romantic. She was excited about Noah coming over tomorrow. She was excited that this attractive, sweet man was attracted to _her_. "I think about you all the time." That's what he had said. She thought that to be unbelievable. She wasn't anything special, God knows. The thought went through her head that maybe he was attracted to her because she had needed him. She was the victim in one of his cases. Maybe he had a 'rescuer' complex and he felt the need to grab on to her and take care of her. Much the way she had felt about many of the children in the cases she and Cal handled at work.

'_Stop doing this to yourself. Enough with the psycho babble. Do I have to analyze everything to death? Actually, yes. I didn't analyze Alec. I let him be. I never called him on the crap he was pulling. I promised I would never use my 'voodoo magic,' as he saw it, on him. I got hurt. I won't make that mistake again.'_

* * *

Later that evening, Cal called and asked if she would like some company. Of course she had said yes. She was growing tired of her self-talk. It would be nice to have another human being to talk to. Cal showed up around 7:30.

"Are you hungry?" Gillian asked him first thing, knowing that he was the worst at making sure he ate during the day.

"Actually, no. I had a late lunch." Cal went into the living room, but didn't sit. He turned back toward her. "It's a really nice night. Fancy a walk to the park?'

Gillian wasn't sure she wanted to venture out, but she liked the thought of getting some fresh air. She felt like she would safe as long as she was with Cal. "You know, it probably would feel good to be outside for a change. I feel like I've been cooped up in this apartment forever."

"Okay then." Cal waked to the door and opened it. "After you."

They had walked to the park almost in silence. He saw her looking around and reacting to everything that moved. She seemed more aware than scared. _'Good. She needs to be aware of her surroundings. It'll help keep her safe.'_

They reached the park and sat on one of the benches that faced the playground. They had taken this walk before and Cal knew this was Gillian's favorite bench. She could see the children playing and hear them laughing. He loved to watch her around kids. It was almost magical. She didn't even need to be interacting with them. Her face brightened just being around them.

"You seem to be in good spirits tonight." Cal said as he watched her.

She turned to look at him with a smile on her face. "Yes. I am."

"Happy looks wonderful on you!" Cal smiled at her. He looked at his watch. "We should probably get back. I don't to wear you out."

The walk back was mostly silent as well. Cal always loved how they could be together and not have to talk. As they went through the door of the apartment, Gillian yawned.

"Tired love?" Cal shut the door and they walked in to the living room.

"I didn't think so. Maybe that fresh air was exactly what I needed. Thanks Cal." Gillian turned to him and smiled.

"Well, I'm gonna head out. Let you get some rest." Cal walked back toward the door. "You want some company tomorrow? Em will still be at Zoe's so…"

"I'm okay Cal. You are officially relieved of baby-sitting duties! Go out and do something for yourself. You've been slaving over me for nearly two weeks. You need a break!" Gillian was following him to the door.

"I wouldn't say 'slaving'. I have enjoyed every minute of taking care of you. Even with your stubbornness and refusal to cooperate!" Cal turned to her.

"Stubbornness? And I am not uncooperative!" Gillian glared at him in mock anger.

Cal laughed at her. "Seriously, if you want me to come by tomorrow, I can."

"No Cal. Take this weekend for you. I'll be okay. I have plans tomorrow night anyway."

"Plans? What sort of plans?" Cal was wondering what plans she could have. She hadn't been in touch with anyone for nearly two weeks and he knew she would never go out with the bruises that were covering her showing like they were.

"I… have a date." Gillian looked away from him. For some reason, she felt as if she didn't want to tell Cal about Noah.

"A date? With who?" Cal tried to keep his surprise and disappointment from showing.

"Noah. Well, I mean if you can even call it a date. We aren't going anywhere, he's just coming over for dinner." Gillian didn't know why she was putting it to Cal this way. _'Of course it's a date. Why don't I want him to know that?'_

"Oy, that's what this sudden giddiness is about. You've a date with the good Detective Parker. Well, he moves fast." Cal had the smallest flash of contempt before he covered it up. He hoped Gillian didn't catch it.

Gillian saw something; was that contempt? "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothin'. Just that he didn't waste any time puttin' the moves on you that's all." Cal turned toward the door so she wouldn't see anything else on his face. He was sure he was overflowing with disappointment and jealousy and he didn't want her to see that. He had pushed the line over the last few weeks. He knew she would likely be very uncomfortable if she could see the emotions currently flitting through him. He was pretty certain she didn't see him in any kind of romantic way. His feelings for her had deepened over the last few months. After this past few weeks… No. He couldn't let her see it. It would be way too much for her right now. She needed to be able to depend on him as her best friend. The rules of the game needed to stay the same.

"Cal? What's going on?" Gillian saw that he was acting weird. He had turned from her, obviously not wanting her to see his face. Why?

Cal turned around. Mask fully in place now. "I care about you Foster. Don't want to see you get hurt."

'_Foster? Distancing. What is going on?'_ "I thought you liked Noah? Is there something I should know that you're not telling me?"

"Nope. Noah seems like a perfect gentleman. And it's obvious he's a little smitten with you." He reached for her and pulled her into a tight hug. "Enjoy your date." He pulled back from her. "Call me if you need anything?" He turned back toward the door.

"Yeah, sure." Gillian put her hand on his arm. He looked back at her. "Are you okay Cal?"

"I'm perfect. Have a good weekend yeah? If I don't hear from you I'll see you Monday at the office, right?" He was grinning at her but it wasn't genuine. He went down the steps and walked a few feet.

"Um, yeah. I'll be in Monday." She stood in the doorway. "Cal?"

"Yeah?" He turned back to face her.

"Thanks. For everything. I couldn't have gotten through the last few weeks without you." There was no universal sign for gratitude but Gillian hoped Cal could see how thankful she was.

His face softened. "Your welcome love." He smiled sweetly at her and then turned and left.

Gillian stood in the doorway. _'What just happened? He's back to Foster? I was Gill for the past two weeks. Now he's distancing.' _It also occurred to her that he left before she even shut the door. The last few times he had been there he stood outside and made sure the door was locked and the alarm was set before he would even leave the steps. _'What happened? Is he upset that I'm having Noah over?' _The negative self talk returned. Maybe he thinks she's awful because she has a date and her divorce isn't even final yet. Maybe he thinks ill of her for dating the detective working her case. She had to admit, that was a little shocking to her as well. She was pretty sure Noah wasn't the type that asked every woman he worked a case with out on a date. But did she really know that for sure? _'That's definitely something to look into…'_ She didn't want to be another conquest if that was what Noah was doing. Surely, if Cal knew something like that he would tell her, right? Gillian felt a headache coming on. _'Enough. Just stop. I need a long, hot bath.'_

* * *

Cal got into his car and started the engine. Then it hit him that he had walked away before Gillian had even shut the door. Oh well. There was an officer out front. She would be fine. She didn't need him now anyway, right? She had Noah Parker. _He_ was going to be her knight in shining armor. Cal felt a little angry at that. He wanted to be Gillian Foster's knight. He wanted to be her everything. He should have listened to Emily. He was trying to give her time and space after Alec. Had he given her too much? Maybe the date wouldn't go well. He felt selfish thinking like that. She was so happy tonight. She deserved to be happy. And damn it, he did like Noah Parker. Who was he to mess it up for her if Noah Parker wanted to treat her right? _'I'm a complete sod. She would be better off with someone else. She is absolutely perfect and she deserves the best. And that is not you old chap.'_

**TBC**

**Next chap-"The Date"**


	20. Chapter 20

**Sorry it has taken so long to update. I struggled a bit with this. Re-wrote it several times… I hope everyone is okay with the final draft! I'm not sure it is exactly what I wanted… but-**

**It's a long one… and even with that I don't own anything.**

Gillian had not slept well again. Just like every night since she had come home, she tossed and turned. Every noise was magnified. She had avoided a pain pill. She had to get out of that habit. If she started taking them every night just to sleep she would end up depending on them. She'd seen too many people in her life lose battles to addictions. She would not allow that to happen to her.

She had been exhausted by the time she climbed into bed just after 11pm. She laid there staring at the ceiling for a long while. She managed to fall asleep for a few hours. She had woken herself with a scream around 3am. Another nightmare. The psychologist in her knew this was normal and that it would just take time for her mind to process everything that had happened. She had frozen during the incident. It was good that she was screaming now. That meant her mind was working things out for her. Once she started feeling safe in her own skin again, her sleeping patterns would improve.

By 7am, Gillian was up and having her first cup of coffee. She toasted a bagel and covered it with Nutella. Nothing better for breakfast! She turned off the alarm system and went on to her porch to retrieve her morning paper. She waved hello to the currently assigned officer sitting in his cruiser right in front of her building. It was a beautiful morning. September mornings in the Nation's capital were quite comfortable. She went back in, sat at her table, read her paper and enjoyed her bagel.

* * *

Cal had managed to get more sleep than Gillian. It was alcohol induced though. He was glad Emily wouldn't be home until tomorrow. She was going to have one, big 'I told you so' speech ready when she found out that Gillian had a date tonight. With any luck, he could keep that from her for a while.

Call thought about what he could do tonight. The first thought was to hit a bar and pick up some loose woman to help him forget his troubles. But the second thought he had was of Gillian and how disapproving she would be of that. Not that he should care what she thought at this point. After all, she would be spending the evening with Mr. "tall, dark, and handsome." Cal hated that he felt so jealous. She didn't deserve him being upset with her. It's not like she knew how he felt about her. Not the depth of it anyway.

Cal thought he had seen love in Gillian's eyes several times since she and Alec split. No, he _knew_ he saw love. He could read that perfectly. But his specialty was recognizing the expression, sometimes he failed to see the true meaning behind it. Of course they loved each other. They were partners and best friends. Cal knew he couldn't push it any further. He had longed for her for years and he knew that wouldn't change. If they were meant to be together, it would happen. But, he wouldn't risk her happiness just to test the water. He had to let this thing with Noah play out, no matter which way it went.

* * *

Gillian was nervous about tonight. It was hard for her to believe she was in this position. Marriage was supposed to last forever, and yet here she was, starting over. How was it going to feel to be sharing an evening with a man who wasn't her husband? She had spent evenings with Cal, but she knew that was different. They were best friends. They had a level of trust established that had been built up over those many years of friendship. Cal was comfort. Cal was safety. What would Noah be?

Gillian knew she needed to calm down. _'Just be yourself. Relax and have fun, but not too much fun.'_ This new, single lifestyle needed to move slowly. No need to rush into anything. She would be careful. She would be particular. She would avoid hurt.

* * *

Gillian had decided to wear her short sleeved, baby blue sweater and her favorite pair of faded blue jeans. She put her makeup on very lightly. Noah had seen her over the last few weeks without makeup. Obviously he was okay with that. Gillian found that refreshing. It was nice knowing she had pretty much been seen by him at her worst and yet he still asked her out.

Gillian had put a bottle of wine in the refrigerator to chill. She was ready by 6:30. Thirty minutes until he would be here. The closer it got to 7:00, the more anxious she felt.

The knock on the door came just before 7:00. She opened it to find Noah with his arms full. "Oh my goodness! Let me help." Gillian grabbed a few bags out of his hands. They made their way to the kitchen.

"I hope you like Thai food, a lot. They kind of kept piling stuff in the bags. I'm not really sure what I ended up with!" Noah set the bags down.

"It smells wonderful. 'Thai Peppers.' I've never heard of this place."

"It's in Alexandria. It's a little place a few blocks from my house. I know the owners." Noah started taking the food out of the bags. "Let's see… we have Chicken Sa-Tay. Oh, please tell me you aren't allergic to anything."

"Nope. No allergies. Why?" Gillian was smiling at him. He seemed very nervous. Good, then she wasn't alone. 'Why _is he so nervous? As good looking as he is, he must date often.'_

"I love the peanut sauce and the peanut dressing and I didn't even think to ask about that. It's the best you'll ever eat." He had opened the container of Sa-Tay and dipped the chicken in the peanut sauce. He turned to her with it "try this." He held it up to her mouth and she took the bite.

"Mmmm." She moaned. "That is fantastic!"

Noah couldn't help but smile. There was nothing he found sexier than a woman who wasn't afraid to enjoy a good meal.

Gillian grabbed plates and silverware and headed to the table. Noah finished unpacking the bags and carried the food to the table. Gillian went and retrieved the wine that had been chilling in the refrigerator. "Wine okay? If not I have scotch or beer?"

"Wine is perfect." Noah came back into the kitchen. He found Gillian staring at the ACKC 'Chocolatier' bag on the counter. "Somehow I thought you might be a fan of chocolate!"

"You have no idea!" She went to open the bag to see what was in it.

"Oh, no you don't! Dinner first!" He grabbed the bag and opened it. He took out a box and put it in the refrigerator. He then took out a bottle of Riesling and put that in to chill as well. He closed the bag and put it at the back of the counter.

"Spoilsport!" They were both laughing.

The dinner conversation was light. They mostly talked about work and some of the cases they had done. It felt comfortable so far. As they were cleaning off the table, Gillian asked "Why police work? What drew you to that?"

"Honestly, I didn't want a boring, safe job. That sounds a little crazy doesn't it?" Noah stopped and crinkled his brow. He was closing up containers and putting them in the refrigerator

"Not really. I mean I understand the boring part. But what's wrong with safe?" Gillian was a big fan of 'safe' right now. She put their dishes in the sink.

"I guess I may be a bit of an adrenaline junkie! Sitting behind a desk wasn't going to work for me. I decided that pretty early on."

Gillian wondered what could have influenced that. "What did your parent's do?" She retrieved the bottle of wine from the table.

"My Dad was an accountant and my Mom was a school teacher. They're both retired now." Noah started putting the dishes in the dishwasher. "I always thought my parents were the most boring people in the world. Now, I appreciate the life they gave our family. I always said I wanted to do something my kids would be proud and excited tell their friends about."

Gillian smiled at him. "So, do you have children?" She hoped he did. Her mind was getting away from her and she could hear that little voice saying 'he won't want to stick with you for any amount of time if he wants children.'

"Yes. I have a son in his second year at Radford and my daughter is a senior at TC Williams."

Gillian spoke quickly before he could ask her about children. "A boy and a girl. That's terrific. What are their names?"

"Steven and Meredith. They're great kids. I'm a lucky man." He looked down and Gillian saw the sadness in his eyes.

"Are you okay?" Gillian stepped toward him.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Why?" Noah looked at her and she saw his face go blank.

"I just saw… well you looked really… sad." Gillian hoped she wasn't being too nosy. "How long ago?"

"Three years. How did you figure… oh yeah. I'm not gonna get anything past you am I?" Noah gave her a small smile.

"I'm sorry." Gillian turned away from him and poured some more wine in their glasses. _'Great. Scare him away on date number one. I am sorry Noah, but I can't wear blinders ever again. Not after Alec.'_

"No. Don't apologize. I think it's amazing how you can, literally, see so much in people." Noah was standing behind her now. He put his hand on her shoulder and reached around her for his wine glass. "Let's go sit." He had his arm around her shoulders and they walked in to the living room together. She sat on one end of the couch and he sat toward the middle. They were facing each other with a few feet between them.

"If you don't mind my asking, how?" Gillian watched the grief take hold on his face.

"Breast cancer." He took a drink of his wine.

"I'm so sorry. That must have been awful." Gillian looked away wishing she wouldn't have asked.

"It was the hardest thing I've ever had to face. It's been tough on the kids too. But, we're doing okay now." He looked up at her and smiled when he caught her eye. "What about you? No kids?"

Gillian felt the wind rush out of her lungs. "Uh, no. No children." She looked away and then took a drink of her wine.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Wow. I didn't mean to…" Noah was looking at her with such concern.

"It's okay, really. I can't have children. Alec and I tried to adopt, but the birth mother changed her mind before the 60 day period was up. They took her away on day 57." Gillian swallowed hard to keep from getting too emotional.

"That must have been awful." Noah scooted a little closer and reached out for her hand.

She let him take her hand. It was a nice comforting gesture that she appreciated. "Yes, it was awful. Losing Sophie was the beginning of the end for our marriage. We just never came back from that."

"That must have been pretty recent."

"Almost two years now. Alec started using again a few months later and he got worse and worse. I finally left him about 5 months ago." Gillian looked up at Noah and took a deep breath.

"Well, we're quite the pair." Noah shook his head and gave her a rueful smile.

"Tragic." She gave his hand a squeeze. "What do you say we talk about something else?"

They smiled at each other. He moved closer to her. Their knees were touching now.

For the next two hours they sat and talked. She learned that he had gone to college at Old Dominion University and graduated in 1987 with a BS degree in Criminal Justice. He was a 'Frat guy' with Pi Kappa Phi. He had been on the five year college plan. "I enjoyed my first two years entirely too much!"

His favorite color was blue, his favorite season was fall, he loved soccer, basketball, and Nascar races. He grew up in Lynchburg, Virginia and had moved to the DC area with his wife after college because this was where her family was. He got hired by the Metropolitan Police Department right after graduation and had been there now for almost 23 years.

It was not lost on Gillian how Noah had answered every question she had asked and volunteered much information about himself. She felt as if he sensed she was nervous and out of practice with the whole dating thing. He was doing everything he could to make her comfortable and she was grateful for that.

Noah had played soccer growing up and had been on the Soccer team at ODU. His son Steven was a nationally ranked swimmer and his daughter Meredith played soccer and lacrosse at her high school. Gillian loved the way his eyes lit up when he talked about his kids.

"You're a wonderful father, I can tell." Gillian saw him blush.

"Thank you. I love my kids. I would do anything for them." He reached out and touched her cheek. "My daughter was very excited about my date this evening. It's the first one I've gone on that wasn't set up for me by some concerned friend or family member." They both laughed.

Noah continued "Meredith has been bugging me to 'find someone' for a while now. I think she is concerned that I'll be lonely after she goes off to college next year."

"She sounds sweet." Gillian smiled sweetly at him.

"She is. She's a bit of a nosy body though." Noah reached in his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "She gave me a list of questions I'm supposed to get the answers to before I leave here." He looked down at the paper and laughed. "I'm pretty sure she was hoping I would weave them in to the conversation and not actually read from the paper she gave be but…"

Gillian was laughing out loud. "Oh, my! Are these questions going to embarrass me?"

"No. I don't think so! Meredith says if I ask you these questions I'll have all I need to know to make you happy."

Gillian gave him a mock terror look. "Okay…"

"She is an idealistic, romance loving, teenager! And she can tell that I really like you." Noah was looking into Gillian's eyes.

Gillian blushed and looked away. Noah put his finger under her chin and turned her face back to him. "You're beautiful, sweet, intelligent, funny… and you have the most amazing blue eyes I have ever seen. I think you have put some kind of spell on me Gillian Foster."

Gillian took a deep breath. She could feel the butterflies in her stomach and a shiver up her spine as Noah closed the small gap between them. His eyes were asking permission to kiss her. She answered him by leaning in and placing her lips on his. The kiss was tender and sweet. Noah backed away and smiled at her.

"Okay. Questions. You ready?" Noah gave her a sideways glance and a big smile.

"I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be." Gillian looked at him with a little grin and sarcastically asked "you need a pen to write my answers with?"

"Oh no. I'm gonna remember everything you say Gillian. Trust me."

"What is your favorite flower?"

"Calla Lilly."

"Favorite Color?"

"Pink. Any shade."

"Favorite Candy?"

"If it's got sugar in it, I love it!"

"Silver or Gold?"

"Silver."

"Favorite sport?"

"Basketball."

"House on the beach or secluded mountain cabin?"

Gillian laughed. "Mountain cabin."

"Favorite CD?"

"Oh. That's hard. I like a lot of different music. Um… Elvis Costello."

"Birthday?"

"June 8th. When is yours?"

"March 30th. Favorite Holiday?"

"Christmas."

"Favorite fruit?"

"Strawberries."

Noah looked up at her as he asked the last question "Snuggle or no?"

"Oh, I'm definitely a snuggler." Gillian started giggling. "Your daughter told you to ask that?"

"No, that was my question. How about dessert?" Noah jumped up and headed for the kitchen.

"I thought you'd never ask!" She jumped up to follow him.

Noah pulled the box from the refrigerator. "Caramel and chocolate covered apples. AND…" he took a box out of the bag on the counter "truffles and sugar crèmes."

Gillian's eyes got wide. "Mmmmm. They look wonderful!" She reached for one. Noah blocked her hand.

"Follow me!" He took the dessert back to the living room. He sat the boxes on the coffee table and gently guided Gillian to the center of the couch. "Don't touch! I'll be right back."

Noah returned with the bottle of Riesling and two glasses. He set the wine bottle on the table and then sat next to her on the couch. He gave her a glass. He poured wine into both their glasses. He then turned to her and said "to new beginnings."

"To new beginnings." They touched their glasses and Gillian took a sip of the wine. "This is good."

"It's from the Linden vineyard. It's about 40 miles outside DC. They have tastings there a few times a year. Maybe we could go to one." Noah gave her a questioning look.

"I would like that." Gillian then looked toward the chocolate. She smiled and said "how much longer am I gonna have to wait for that dessert?"

Noah laughed. "Your wait is over." He picked up the box of truffles and opened it. He sat it on her lap. She went to get one from the box and he stopped her hand. "That isn't how you eat these." He picked one up and turned to her. He put the chocolate to her lips and she opened her mouth and took a bite.

Gillian closed her eyes and started chewing. "Oh. My. God. This is unbelievable. Mmmmm."

Noah was staring at her with his lips slightly parted. _'She is the sexiest woman. I'm gonna keep chocolate around all the time.'_

Gillian opened her eyes and realized Noah was staring at her. She blushed. "I guess I should have warned you about my extreme fondness for chocolate."

"Oh, I think I'm gonna enjoy your fondness for chocolate." Noah put the truffle back to her lips. She stared at him with a sly smile as she took it into her mouth. Gillian closed her eyes and moaned again.

She felt Noah move. When she opened her eyes he was inches from her face. They locked eyes for a moment. Then he brought his lips to hers. He was so gentle, lightly brushing his lips to hers. He opened his mouth and captured her lower lip between his. They shared several kisses just exploring the taste and feel of each other's lips. Gillian had a rush of butterflies when she felt his tongue lick across her lips. She met his tongue with hers. The kisses became more passionate. She put her arms around his neck and he pulled her around so she was sitting, draped over his lap. Noah let his hands feel her skin. He touched her arms and her neck. Gillian ran her hands along his shoulders and drew patterns along his neck with her fingertips. When they finally had to stop to catch their breath, they pulled back slightly and stared into each other's eyes.

"Wow." They both had said it at the same time. Gillian giggled and Noah smiled while shaking his head at her. "I should get going. My daughter's curfew is Midnight. I can't enforce it if I'm not there."

Gillian smiled at him and stood up. He got up from the couch and put his arms around her waist. He pulled her in for a tight hug. He then leaned down and kissed her again. They walked toward the door.

"I had a wonderful time tonight. I would love to see you again. You are infectious Gillian."

She realized how much she loved hearing him say her name. "That's good, right?"

When they reached the door he turned to her and put his arms around her again. "Oh yes. That is very good."

Gillian returned his hug and she leaned up to capture his lips again. They shared another passionate kiss. Gillian backed away. Noah looked at her. "Has this been too much? Because, I want to take it slow. There is no rush."

Gillian kissed his neck, then his cheek, and then she kissed his lips again. "No. This has not been too much. I had a wonderful time and I would love to see you again."

"Good. I look forward to it." He pulled her in for a tight hug and then kissed her again. "Goodnight Gillian."

"Goodnight Noah." They smiled at each other as Noah stepped outside. As soon as he had walked away, Gillian shut the door. She leaned up against it and took a deep breath. '_A girl could get used to that.'_

**TBC**


	21. Chapter 21

**Here we are with another chapter! Cal/Emily interaction in this one… hope it's true to character. Let me know if I didn't get it right (gently please ****). **

The rest of the weekend was uneventful for Gillian. She had slept fairly well after Noah left. Sunday she spent getting her stuff ready for her return to work on Monday. She had to get the final okay from the doctor Monday morning, but she was sure that wouldn't be a problem.

Cal had called late Sunday evening to check on her. The conversation had been strange. They only talked for a minute. Cal said he wanted to make sure she was okay. He asked if she needed him to go to her doctor's appointment with her Monday morning.

"No Cal. I'll be fine. I'm coming straight to work after. I should be in by 10:00." Gillian couldn't help but smile. He could really be quite sweet at times. She was grateful she was one of the few who got to see that side of him. He had been so good to her over the past few weeks.

"Okay love. If for some reason the doctor says you need more rest, please listen to him. I don't want you pushing yourself." Cal knew that was a waste of breath. She would be in tomorrow no matter what the exchange was at the doctor's office. He would know what happened by her reaction to him. If he had any indication she shouldn't be there he would drag her home kicking and screaming!

"I won't. I'm fine, really. I'm anxious to get back."

"Okay, well, I'll see you when you get in. Call me if you need anything."

"Okay. Thanks. Goodnight Cal."

"Goodnight Gill."

Gillian hung up the phone and thought about the conversation. He sounded funny, almost sad. '_At least I'm not Foster today. We're back to Gill.'_

* * *

Cal hung up the phone. He had thought about not calling her but he couldn't stand not to hear her voice. He just needed to know she was okay. He wanted to ask how the date went. But he wasn't sure he really wanted to know. She sounded happy and relaxed. Good for her. Above anything else, he wanted her to be happy.

Cal made his way to the kitchen. He started cleaning up his weekend mess when he heard Emily come in the front door. "Dad! I'm home!"

Emily made her way to the kitchen. "Oh my gosh. What did you do this weekend? This place looks a mess." Cal turned to say hello to her but before he said a word out she blurted out "you look awful! What happened?"

"Well thanks Em. I'm fantastic. How are you?" He went back to his cleaning.

"Seriously Dad. What's going on? You haven't had a bad weekend like this in a while."

"I enjoyed a nice, quiet weekend with me, myself, and I." '_And a few bottles of whiskey.'_

"By yourself? But, what about Gillian? I thought you guys would spend time together this weekend." Cal heard the disappointment in her voice. He didn't want to get into Gillian's weekend plans.

"Nope. I guess she needed a break from me." _'Stop asking Emily.' _

"What? Why? What did she say? What did you do Dad?" Emily was looking at him skeptically.

"Why do you assume I did somethin' wrong?" Cheap deflection and he knew it. He also knew she would catch it.

"Because, you have a habit of doing stupid things that upset her." Emily came closer to him and stared at his face. "You're deflecting Dad! What's going on?"

"Gillian had plans this weekend. Those plans didn't involve me. She has a life Em. Separate and apart from me and her job." _'Good job Cal. You just shoved open the door you wanted to stay closed!'_

"What plans? How could she have plans?" Emily was thinking hard. Cal swore he could see smoke coming out of her ears. "Oh, no. Detective Parker." She looked at Cal and saw him look away. "I'm right aren't I?"

"Yeah love. You're right. Not another word about it. Got it?" Cal turned back to the sink full of dishes.

Emily came and put her arms around her dad. "Don't give up Dad. Gillian has feelings for you. I just know it. She just doesn't see it yet. It took you a long time to figure out how you felt about her. She just needs time."

Cal turned to face Emily. "I realize that in your mind you think Gill and I should be together. I will even admit I feel that in some ways too. But there can be no interfering in this. Okay Em?" He looked at her with a stern face. She nodded her head. "If it's meant to be, it will happen. There will be no manipulating by anyone. Are we clear?"

"Yes, but-" Emily tried to protest.

"No 'buts' Em. Gill has to come to this on her own without your cosmic interference." Cal took hold of her arms as he said this. He was trying to make sure she understood how important it was that she not get involved.

"Okay. I won't interfere. But you should at least put up a fight Dad. How will she ever know if you don't give any indication?" Emily had a pleading expression on her face.

Cal turned back to the sink. "Now is not the time. I'll know if the time presents itself. But, I'm not gonna arrange it. We both want Gill to be happy. Right?"

Emily sighed. "Yes. I just want her to be happy _here_ with _us_."

"I know love. But if that can't happen then we should be hoping that she can be happy wherever she chooses to be. If that ends up being with Noah Parker…then that's how it goes." Cal was staying pretty matter-of-fact. Emily wasn't happy about that.

"I understand what you're saying Dad. But you have to promise me that you won't shut her out. I know how you are. You'll push her away because she is currently unattainable. You are best friends. Best friends are there for each other. Please, be there for her?" Emily had a grip on her dad's arm.

He looked at her. "I am not gonna shut her out. I would be miserable without her in my life in some fashion." Cal paused for a second. "I can't believe I'm havin' this conversation with my 16 year old daughter."

"I'm glad we're having this conversation. I'm glad you trust me enough to talk to me about it." Emily planted a kiss on her dad's cheek. She turned to leave the room. At the doorway she paused and turned back around. "You know this could be a good thing. Noah Parker could be her 'rebound.' Trust me Dad; you never want to be the rebound!"

"The what?" Cal turned to her with an exasperated look on his face.

"The rebound! You know, the one you have in between the wrong one and the right one. Haven't you heard that you shouldn't jump out of the frying pan into the fire?" Emily was grinning. "So, this is perfect!"

"You been watchin' Oprah again?"

"Nope. Reading Cosmo. It's like the encyclopedia for women!" With that she turned and went up to her room.

Cal stared after her in bewilderment.

* * *

Gillian's doctor's appointment had gone well. She wasn't happy about having to continue wearing the soft cast for at least another week. But, it did hide the bruises on her arm. Which is good considering the bruises on her face were still visible. She had done an awesome make-up job, but even the best make-up can only do so much with the colors she had going on. The doctor had told her to do half days for this week. She planned on keeping that to herself. Hopefully Cal would only ask if she had been cleared to come back. She could answer that honestly.

Gillian walked into the building with her laptop over her right shoulder, her purse over her left arm, and a fresh cup of coffee in her left hand. She saw Heidi first. "Dr. Foster! It's so good to have you back!"

"Thank you Heidi. It's good to be back. You have anything for me?" Gillian smiled sweetly at the receptionist.

"Just a few letters that came this morning. I've been putting the rest of your mail in your in-box. I can bring these to you later if that would be easier."

"No. I can take them now." She reached and took the letters with her right arm. She saw Heidi's expression when she saw the soft cast. "It's okay Heidi. It feels fine. The cast is just precautionary."

"I'm so sorry. I don't mean to stare. We've all just been so concerned about you…" Heidi stammered a little knowing her boss didn't like to be pitied or coddled.

"Thank you. I appreciate your concern, really. But, I'm okay." Gillian smiled as she headed down the hallway to her office.

Loker came out of the lab just as she was passing by. "Dr. Foster? You're back." He turned to go in her direction.

Gillian smiled over her shoulder "Good Morning Eli."

Loker caught up with her. He took one look at her face and winced with sympathetic pain. "Wow. Torres wasn't kidding about the bruises. Those are bad."

Gillian chuckled. "You should have seen them this time last week. They're practically gone now."

"Do you need some help with that?" Eli motioned toward her arm with the laptop and the mail she was carrying.

"No Eli. I'm fine. But, thank you. Carry on with whatever you're doing."

Loker walked away shrugging his shoulders.

Gillian made it to her office. She put down everything she had been carrying. She froze when she saw the yellow envelope on her desk. No return address. Just her name on the front. She slowly picked up the envelope and felt it. It felt like papers. She opened it and pulled the papers out. Cal chose this moment to bust through the door startling her and causing her to jump.

"Oh sorry love! Just came to see how you were doin'. What's that?" He saw the look on Gillian's face and his heart dropped. He rushed toward her and took the papers from her hand. Gillian sat down in her chair and dropped her head. Cal saw the reason for her reaction. "Your divorce papers."

"Silly for me to react this way huh?" Gillian looked up at him with a sad face. "I knew they were coming."

"That doesn't make it any easier." He leaned up against her desk and took her hand.

Gillian stood and turned away from him. She felt empty on the one hand, but relieved on the other. "Well, now my failure is filed in the Court."

"No love. Not your failure. His failure." Cal put his arms around her in a comforting gesture. She patted his hand and then turned to face him.

"I'll get through it. It'll be fine." She took a deep breath and smiled and unconvincing smile.

"I'm here if you need me, love. Been there, done that. Even when you know it's comin' and it's for the best, it still feels like a sucker punch in the gut." He gave her a little grin.

She smiled. A genuine smile this time. "Thanks Cal. You're too good to me." She put her arms out to hug him and he obliged willingly.

Gillian backed away. "Well, on the bright side, I was scared to death when I saw the yellow envelope. I thought it might be…" She didn't finish her sentence.

"That was my first thought too. I have to admit I was glad to see divorce papers." They laughed together. "So, what did the doctor say? You all cleared?"

"Yes. I'm good. I just have to wear this soft cast for another week and he said to call if I had any problems." Gillian sat down in her chair and started for her mail pile.

"Something very suspect about that statement Gill. No outright lies but I sense some omission." Cal was staring at her face waiting to see how she reacted.

"You are over protective Cal. I am fine and very glad to be back here."

Not being able to discern anything from her now masked face, he got up and headed for the door. "Very well love. I'll check back in a while. Carry on."

* * *

Gillian finally got through her mail pile. It wouldn't have taken so long but every few minutes another staff person was coming in to welcome her back. It was nice to have been missed. But, she wasn't getting any work done.

Her door swung wide open and she knew who it was before she even looked up. "Hi Cal."

"Hey love. Come on. Lunchtime."

"Cal, I'm right in the middle of this account. I can't leave right now."

"Sure you can! We're the bosses. Remember? We can do whatever we want." Cal came around and took her by the arm. He pulled her gently from her chair.

"Well, that's an improvement. Usually you say you're the boss." She rose from the chair but a sudden wave of fear hit her and she couldn't move.

Cal felt the resistance. "What's wrong?"

Gillian couldn't make the words come out. She just kept picturing the last time she left her office for lunch. Her body wouldn't move.

"You're afraid." Cal turned so they were facing each other. "I'll go pick something up. You don't have to go."

"No. I need to go. Stay with me?" Gillian was ashamed to be feeling so afraid, but she couldn't help it.

"Absolutely. I'm here for you Gill. Just lean on me."

She grabbed her purse and they left for lunch together.

**TBC**


	22. Chapter 22

**Sorry for the delay in getting a new chapter up. Life has been getting in the way of my working on this! Thanks to all who have stuck with me!**

By Wednesday afternoon, Gillian was starting to think that maybe she should have taken the doctor's advice and stuck to half days. She wasn't sleeping well even though she was exhausted by the time bed time came around. Cal had cornered her and almost had the doctor's instructions out of her. Luckily, Noah showed up right then and whisked her out to lunch.

Noah came by after work to check on her. He started right when he came through the door. "Are you doing okay? You look exhausted."

"I'm fine. I just need to get back into the swing of things. When you take two weeks off it's hard to get back on schedule." Gillian had turned away from him as she answered. He followed her into the living room.

He came up behind her, wrapped his arms around her middle, and pulled her back against his chest. "But, Gillian, you weren't on vacation. You were injured, not relaxing on a beach somewhere. I'm thinking you should have eased back into a schedule, not jumped in full force."

Gillian took a deep breath and relaxed against him. "I _am_ tired."

"Come here. Sit with me." Noah gently pulled her on to the couch with him. He was at one end leaning his left side up against the back of the couch. He pulled her in front of him and she nestled back against him. "Cal was asking you about what the doctor said when I came in today, wasn't he." Gillian nodded her head. "I thought you were a little too eager to leave for lunch. The doctor didn't clear you back to full time did he?"

Gillian cringed at the question. If she knew Noah at all, she knew he would go straight to Cal with her answer. "Well. He just said to take it easy, and I _have_ been taking it easy. All I've been doing is paperwork, nothing in the field."

"So you've been leaning over your desk all day staring at files on your computer?" Noah had a challenging tone in his voice. He didn't bother letting her answer. "That can't be good for your back. How much sleep have you been getting?"

Gillian felt her muscles tighten. She really didn't want to admit how much trouble she was still having with sleeping.

Noah felt her answer even thought she hadn't said anything. "Hey. You shouldn't be ashamed that you're having trouble sleeping." He wrapped his left arm around her waist and was rubbing her right arm gently. "Relax. I'll sit here with you and you get some sleep, okay?"

"Noah. You don't have to do that. Don't you need to get home to your daughter?" Gillian tried to turn and get up. But Noah held her in place.

"No, I don't. Meredith had practice until 5:30 and now she is going for pizza with some friends before she heads to her science partner's house to work on a project. She won't be home before 9:00. So, since it's not quite 6:00, I have two and a half hours before I have to leave." He gave her a kiss on the side of her face and squeezed her tight. "So, relax and close those beautiful blue eyes."

Gillian smiled. How could she resist that? "Noah?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

"No thanks necessary. Trust me. It's my pleasure. I can't think of a better way to spend an evening than cuddled up with a beautiful woman." He thought for a second and then added "at least for now."

Gillian giggled. Noah laughed.

* * *

Thursday morning Gillian made her way in to work a little late.

She had slept well when Noah was there. After he left, she was awake until 3am. She finally fell asleep and then slept through her alarm. It was now after 9am. As she parked her car and got out, her cell phone started ringing. "Hello Cal."

"Hey Love. You comin' in today?"

"Yes Cal. I'm in the garage. I'll be there in 5." She didn't give him time to respond before she hung up.

Gillian walked in and went to the desk. "Good morning Heidi."

"Good morning Dr. Foster"

Gillian grabbed the stack of mail Heidi handed her and headed toward her office. As she passed the lab, Ben came out. "Gillian! Just the person I was looking for."

"Hello Ben."

"You're a Duke Basketball fan, right?" Ben asked with a big smile on his face.

"Yes. I am. Why?" Gillian gave him a puzzled look.

"I'd like you to meet an old friend of mine." Ben stepped aside and motioned to the man standing next to him. "This is Agent Brian Gavin. He works with the DEA. We used to work together on the local drug task force. He has tickets to the Duke game at George Mason that he's giving away. So, naturally, I thought of you."

"Really? When is the game?" Gillian reached and shook the Agents hand. He smiled at her.

Ben answered her "The game is Tuesday night." Agent Gavin handed her the tickets.

"Perfect! Thank you!" Agent Gavin smiled at her and nodded his head. He took her hand again. Gillian smiled. "It was a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise." Agent Gavin smiled back at her.

Ben and Agent Gavin went toward the front door and Gillian headed toward her office. She went in and put her stuff down. She smiled as she looked at the tickets. It had been a long time since she'd seen a Duke game. Hopefully Noah would be able to go with her.

Gillian was still staring at her tickets when Cal came barging into her office. "Foster. Running a little late this morning are we?" He walked up to her, invading her space as he tended to do.

Gillian rolled her eyes at him. "Did you need something Cal?"

"Well, actually, I just wanted to finish the conversation we were in the middle of when your knight in shining armor swept you off yesterday."

Gillian stared at him for a moment. '_My knight in shining armor? Is he jealous? Or is he just being obnoxious in an attempt to get me riled up?' _She then walked around her desk and picked up her stack of mail. "I thought we had finished our conversation."

"No love, we hadn't. You were about to tell me what the doctor had actually said before we were interrupted." Cal came around the desk and stood right beside her.

Gillian didn't respond to him. She was fixated on the mail.

"Foster? We are going to talk about this." Cal reached for her arm and she flinched away. He then realized something wasn't right. "Gill? What is it?"

Gillian was staring at a yellow envelope in her hands. Cal realized she was shaking. He took it from her and saw her name written on it in an all too familiar script. No post mark. No return address. He knew immediately what it was.

Before either of them could say a word, Gillian's cell phone started to ring. She grabbed her purse and pulled the phone out. She saw the caller ID. It was Noah.

Cal took the phone from her and answered it. Gillian barely heard any of the conversation. She sat in her chair in a daze.

* * *

Cal helped Gillian to his study. She was visibly upset and that was where she would have the most privacy. Within twenty minutes, Noah had arrived. He came into the study and went straight to her. He sat next to her and took her hand. "Are you okay?"

"Yes. I'm just ready for this to be over. I can't handle any more fan mail." Gillian closed her eyes and shook her head. "Now that they have sent the wallet, they don't have anything else. So what's next?" Gillian's voice was high and she could feel herself getting a little frantic.

"Come here." Noah pulled her into a hug. "We're going to get to the bottom of this. Okay? Nothing is going to happen to you. We'll keep you safe."

Cal walked in on them and went to back out of the room but Noah saw him. "Cal. Wait. The reason I called…I have some news. I wanted to tell you both together."

Cal came in at sat down. Noah turned so he could look at both of them. "I got a call from PG County Police last night. They stopped the guy whose fingerprints were on the gun when we recovered it. I went over and talked to him. He told us who he got the gun from. We found that guy a few hours ago. He has an active capias for failing to appear in court last month. We've got him downtown." He turned to look at Gillian. "We need you to come look at a line up. Are you up to doing that?"

Gillian took a deep breath and looked over at Cal. He gave her a reassuring look. She turned back to Noah. "Yes. I can do that. But, I don't know what he looks like-"

"We can have them all say something. You said you would know his voice, right?"

"Yes. So, if I hear him then you can arrest him right? You won't have to let him go, right?" Gillian was feeling a little nervous.

"If you're sure it's him, then, yes. We will be able to charge him. But either way, the guy we picked up won't be getting out because of the capias."

"Okay. I'm ready. Let's go." Gillian started to stand and Noah stopped her.

"The line-up will take some time to organize. We'll need you to be there at 3:00. Will that work?" He looked over at Cal as well. They both nodded their heads. "Good. Gillian. I don't want you coming down there alone. Cal, can you come with her? I'll be tied up with the logistics of everything and I just want to make sure she has someone watching out for her."

"Absolutely. I'll have her there at 3."

Noah turned back to Gillian. "I'll see you in a little while. Hang in there. You're doing great." He gave her a hug and a kiss on her forehead. He stood and walked out.

Gillian went to stand and Cal pointed at her. "Oh, no. You stay put. I'll be right back." He then followed Noah out of the room.

Gillian leaned back on the couch and took a deep breath.

**TBC**


	23. Chapter 23

**Another chapter done. Sorry for the wait. April is a busy month for me. The story is all planned out. I just need to get into the computer.**

**Thanks much for the reviews! I'm glad you are enjoying the story. And I'm glad I haven't been lynched over the Noah relationship.**

**Don't own anything-if I did, we would have all ready seen the rest of season 2… or at least we would be seeing the show promoted appropriately!**

Cal followed Noah into the hall. "We checked the video feed for this morning. Nothing out of the ordinary, no one delivering yellow envelopes. I've got my staff going over it again. The envelope didn't walk itself in here." Cal was angry that someone could walk into his business and leave a large yellow envelope completely undetected.

"Let me know if you find anything." They stopped walking and Noah turned to face Cal. "I'm glad you're coming with Gillian this afternoon. She needs the support and I can't do that while I'm running the line up."

"No problem. Gill means a lot to me. We've been through a lot together. Her well being is very important to me." Cal studied Noah's face for a moment. "I want her to be safe and happy."

Noah looked at Cal with a question in his eyes. "Cal, if this is out of line, just tell me. Is there something between you and Gillian? I don't want to step on any toes and I can't help but notice that the two of you share a strong bond."

"Gillian is my best friend in the world. I care very deeply for her." Cal looked intently at Noah hoping he was getting the _'hurt her and I'll kill you'_ message he was sending that way.

Noah was looking at Cal with an open face "Gillian is a remarkable woman. I have nothing but respect and admiration for her. I promise you, I have only the best of intentions."

Cal was tilting his head to the left and watching Noah carefully. "That's the truth. Okay then. We'll see you at 3:00." Cal quickly walked away and into his office. He was crushed to see how Noah felt about Gillian. As much as he wanted to throw a wrench into everything, he couldn't do that to her. He would let this play out. Noah is a good man. And Gillian deserves the best. He will wait. Hopefully Emily is right and Noah is the rebound. _'You're losing it mate. You're 16 year old daughter is giving you relationship advice from a women's magazine.'_ Cal grinned to himself. _'If she's right, I'll get her a lifetime subscription!'_

* * *

Cal drove Gillian to the Police Station that afternoon. They arrived just before 3pm. While they waited in the lobby, Cal was watching Gillian very closely. She had been quiet on the way there, barely saying anything. Now she was sitting on a bench staring at the floor and twisting her purse strap. "You okay love?"

Gillian took in a deep breath and looked up at him. Cal saw fear flash across her features before she could cover it. "I guess I'm a little nervous."

"I'd be worried if you weren't." Cal put his hand on her shoulder. "I'll be right there with you. You know he can't see you right?" He was trying to put her at ease. She had never done anything like this before.

"I know. That's not what I'm worried about." Gillian took another deep breath. "What if he's in there and I can't pick him out? What if he's not in there and I think he is? There are so many things that could go wrong."

"Gill. You are the best at voice recognition. I've never seen anyone better. I'll be right there watching. When or if it's the right voice, we'll both know. If you doubt your own reaction, you know you can trust what I see on your face. Right?"

Gillian smiled at him and grabbed his bicep. "I'm so glad you're here."

Cal put his hand over hers. "Me too love. Me too."

* * *

Noah led them into a dimly lit room with a large window. "Okay, Gillian. The 6 subjects will be brought in through that door over there. They will not be able to see you. Their side of this glass is mirrored. They will each be asked to step forward and then turn to the side. Then they will be told to step back. Okay?"

"You're going to have them talk, right? I'm… I'm not going to know their faces. I'll only know the voice." Gillian sounded scared. Her voice was high.

Noah gave her a small nod. "Yes, I can have them say something. Does it need to be the same phrase that was said to you during the incident?"

Gillian thought for a second. "I would like it if it was longer. And it would be good if there were some of the same words used."

"That shouldn't be a problem. I'll just go give the officer the phrase. I'll be right back." Noah left the room. He was back in less than a minute. "Are we ready?" Noah looked from Gillian to Cal and then back at Gillian. They both were nodding their heads.

Noah spoke into a microphone "Okay. Send them in."

As soon as the door opened, Gillian spun around and put her back to the window. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Cal stepped toward her and held out his hand. She reached and took it.

Noah saw this and just about stopped the whole thing. He didn't want to cause her any pain.

Cal spoke up "you okay Gill?"

"I don't want to see them. I just want to listen. I'm afraid if I look at them I might change something." She glanced over at Noah "is that okay?"

"Absolutely. I just want you to be comfortable. I'm still going to have them step forward and turn though, even if you aren't looking. It's just to keep with the standard way we do things. Are you ready?"

Gillian took a deep breath. "Yes."

Noah had each of the subjects step forward. They recited the phrase 'Don't forget to look both ways before you cross the street.' He then had each one of them turn to the side for a few seconds and then step back.

Gillian closed her eyes and listened closely to each one. As soon as the fourth subject started to speak, Cal saw her sharp intake of breath. Her head shot up and her eyes flew open wide. She started to shake slightly and said "that's him." She looked at Cal "That's the one." Cal pulled his lips up tight and nodded at her. She took a deep breath and nodded back.

Noah had seen her reaction. There was no doubt she was sure about it. "I have to have the last two subjects go, just to be sure."

Gillian shot a look of panic at Cal. He gave her a reassuring look, letting her know she was okay and telling her with his eyes that he believed she had reacted to the right one.

The other two subjects took their turns and Noah then directed the officers to take the subjects out. He looked over at Gillian who was still hanging onto Cal's hand. "You okay?"

Gillian turned to look at Noah. "Yes. I'm fine. What happens now?"

"Now I go interview him and we get him charged." He walked over to them and Gillian let go of Cal's hand. "I'll probably be tied up the rest of the evening. If it's not too late, I'll call you tonight. Otherwise I'll get with you as soon as I can in the morning." Noah gave her a quick hug, shook Cal's hand and walked them out to the lobby. Gillian went to use the ladies room and Cal took advantage of the private moment to get some information from Noah.

"She got the right one." It wasn't a question. Cal knew he was the right one based on Gillian's reaction.

Noah had a surprised look on his face. "Yeah. She did. That's pretty amazing. Most victims get thrown by hearing the voice. She just made a perfect ID based on that alone."

"So, now what? You charging him with murder?"

"Most likely. I'll need to check with the US Attorney to be sure what charge we want to paper him on. He'll go to Grand Jury for the rest. Hopefully, I can get him to talk. We need to know who the other suspect is." Noah and Cal shared a meaningful glance. They both cared for Gillian and they both knew how important it was to catch the big guy. It was good they had the shooter. But, he most likely wasn't the one who had been taunting Gillian by sending her things in the mail and breaking into her apartment. He was locked up overnight and Gillian had gotten her wallet returned this morning. It couldn't have been him. The one who knew her was still out there.

**TBC**


	24. Chapter 24

**Thanks for the patience everyone. I'll try to get another one out quicker next time. **

**Still own nothing. Enjoy!**

Noah had spent several hours interviewing the suspect Gillian had identified. He had finally admitted to being in the sandwich shop that afternoon. He even admitted he had given the gun to the guy they found it with. He denied being the one that actually pulled the trigger that day. He said it was "Pac Man." Noah tried everything he could think of to get the identity of Pac Man. The suspect said he didn't know Pac Man's real name. Evidently he was a 'higher up' in the drug ring. Someone who had clout with the man in charge. Noah was convinced he wouldn't get Pac Man's identity even if this suspect knew who it was. Just to be sure, he had Cal look at the interview the next day.

"He has no idea. He **is** lying when he says he didn't pull the trigger. But, he is telling the truth about this man being called Pac Man and not knowing his true identity." Cal was not happy with this information. They were no closer now than they were the day before with finding out who was taunting Gillian.

Noah was hoping he was wrong about this suspect knowing more. "Should we tell Gillian?" Noah wanted Cal's opinion on this. He knew Gillian well, but Cal seemed to know her better than anyone.

"Yeah. I think we should. If it's okay, we should also give her the nickname. Maybe it's a name she knows somehow." Cal hoped she might recognize the name.

Gillian did not know Pac Man. "The only Pac Man I know is on a video game, and I'm not real familiar with that one. So, we're no closer then? What now?"

"The man you identified has been charged with Murder. His advisement is next week. There will be a preliminary hearing within 30 days." Noah explained.

"And so we wait? And hope this guy just turns up and says 'hey it's me!'" Gillian was feeling scared and helpless. How was she supposed to live day to day not knowing if at any moment this guy would show up?

Noah put his arms around her. "We'll have someone with you 24/7. We will keep you safe."

* * *

The weeks went by. Cal had been at the preliminary hearing with Gillian. She had testified and it went well. The US Attorney had warned that the defense might hammer her on her 'ID by voice', but he hadn't attacked her viciously. He had questioned the science, but the US Attorney had done his homework. He was able to get Gillian recognized as a voice expert by the Court. That hadn't left a lot of room for attack. The trial date had been set for mid-November. That was roughly 30 days away.

Gillian had not heard anything else since getting her wallet returned to her. Life had seemed to stabilize somewhat. She and Noah were spending every spare moment together. He had gone to the Duke George Mason game with her. He had been impressed at her extensive knowledge of basketball. Things had begun to get serious between them. She had gone to dinner at his place and met his daughter. They hit it off immediately. There were plans made for Gillian to assist Meredith with shopping for a Homecoming dress. Gillian couldn't have been happier at her acceptance by Noah's daughter.

One Wednesday afternoon, Noah had showed up unexpectedly at the office and whisked her off to lunch. As they ate, Gillian was picking up that Noah was nervous. "What's wrong?"

"What? Why would you ask that? There is absolutely nothing wrong!" Noah stared at his plate and then took another bite of his lunch.

"You do remember what I do for a living, right?" Gillian raised her eye brows at him and then smiled. "It's really pretty obvious you have something on your mind."

Noah stopped eating and looked at her. "You see everything, don't you? I can't get anything past you." The look on his face was serious.

Gillian paused and looked at him. She could see something wrong in the way he was staring at her. "I'm sorry Noah. I'm not-"

"No. Gillian. Don't, please. I'm not complaining. Just making an observation. You see everything I'm thinking and feeling. Sometimes before I even know what I'm thinking or feeling. It's just a little weird, but not in a bad way." He smiled at her.

Gillian felt a little uncomfortable. "Okay." She was hoping Noah wasn't going to ask her to not read him. She knew she couldn't strike that deal with another man in her life. Alec had taken advantage of that. She had not read him. Not until it was too late. Not until the drugs had gotten him away from her. She didn't realize she had gotten lost in her thoughts until Noah interrupted her 'self talk.'

"Hey." She didn't respond. Noah reached over and put his hand on hers."Gillian?"

Gillian snapped out of it. "I'm sorry. What were you saying?"

"I want to ask you something. Don't feel like you have to say yes. Okay?" Gillian nodded at him. "I have a cabin in the mountains near the Shenandoah River. I was planning to go up there this weekend and I wanted to know if, maybe, you wanted to go with me?"

_So, that's why he was so nervous. _"You want me to go away with you for the weekend? Just the two of us? In the mountains?" He was nodding at every question. Gillian was surprised. This was not what she was expecting.

Noah waited a minute but Gillian didn't say anything else. Suddenly he felt that maybe this was too much pressure on her. "If you don't want to go, it's okay. But, I want you to know, there are two bedrooms. I'm not expecting anything to happen, I mean, unless, it's something that you want…"

Gillian could feel herself blushing. "Noah. I wasn't thinking that, I just… I wasn't expecting…" She looked down at her plate and paused. Grasping for something to say "I didn't know you had a cabin in the mountains." They both laughed.

* * *

Gillian returned from lunch with a blinding smile on her face. Loker and Torres watched her as she strolled to her office. "Is it just me, or does Dr. Foster look unbelievably happy for the first time in a very long time?"

Loker was staring at his boss as well. "If I had to guess, I'd say she just got a little afternoon delight."

"Eli! You have a one track mind!" Ria smacked him on the arm.

Gillian went into her office and sat at her desk. She noticed the message light on her phone blinking. She retrieved the message. "Gillian, it's me. I just wanted to say I am so excited that you're going with me this weekend. In case you haven't figured it out, I am completely smitten with you. You are the sweetest, most beautiful woman in the world. I'll call you later, hon."

Gillian couldn't help the smile spreading on her face. She hadn't felt this happy in such a long time. As she hung up the phone, Cal came bursting into her office. "Hey love."

"Hello Cal."

"Well you're sickeningly giddy. What's up?" Cal made his way to the chair in front of her desk and plopped down.

"I'm just having the best day I have had in a while." Gillian continued to smile.

"That's good love. You deserve it." Cal studied her for a moment. He couldn't help but think Noah was responsible for the pure glee he saw on her face. He didn't really want to hear about it. As much as he wanted her to be deliriously happy, he wanted it to be because of him. Not Noah Parker. Changing the subject was the safest thing for him to do. "We need to go out first thing in the morning on the bank case. Can you meet me here at 8:00?"

"Absolutely."

"Very well, then. I'll leave you to your giddiness." Cal was up and on his way to the door. "See you in the morning!" And then he was gone.

_He didn't even ask what I was so happy about. That's not like Cal. He is usually very nosey about my business. I hope he's all right._ Gillian stood up to go after him. Before she could get out the door, Emily came in.

"Hi Gill!" Emily gave Gillian a hug and walked past her. She flopped down on one the overstuffed chairs.

"Hey Em. I haven't seen you in a while. How have you been?" Gillian followed her over and sat in the other chair.

"I've been good. I've come by a few evenings, but you've all ready been gone." Emily had a sad expression on her face.

"Yes. I haven't been staying late as often as I used to." Gillian wondered what the sad look was about. "Is everything okay Emily? You seem a little down."

"Oh, yeah. Everything is fine." Emily wanted so badly to tell Gillian that her Dad was miserable watching her and Noah getting on so well. But, she promised not to interfere. Maybe she could just… "I am a little worried about Dad. He's been kind of depressed lately."

"Really? " Gillian thought about the conversation they had just had. She thought back over the past few weeks. She hadn't been seeing much of Cal. "What's going on?"

"I don't know. I was hoping you could tell me. I know you guys are close so I figured if he was going to talk to someone about it, it would be you." Emily needed to be careful. She didn't want to cross that line and have her father angry at her. But, honestly, was she supposed to sit and do nothing?

Gillian looked thoughtfully at the young girl. "No. He hasn't mentioned anything to me. But then, I haven't seen him much lately." A pang of guilt shot through her. Had Cal been having a hard time and she missed it? What kind of friend was she? He had been so good to her after everything that had happened.

Emily saw what Gillian was doing. Time to stop that thought process. "I'm sure he'll be okay. He's probably just lonely. I've been spending a lot of time with Rick lately and I haven't been home much. That's why I invited Rick over this Friday. I was thinking of ordering a pizza and watching a movie. I was kind of hoping you would join us… I don't want Rick to be intimidated by Dad and you're so good at keeping him in line. Plus, I think it would be good for Dad." Emily smiled at Gillian "So, What do you say Gill? You up for a movie and pizza night at our place?"

"Oh, Emily. I would love to…" Gillian felt awful. Here she was planning a weekend getaway and Cal… "But, I have plans this weekend."

"Plans? Really? So what are you doing?" Emily was trying to not appear nosey but she wasn't sure how that was working out.

Gillian blushed a little and looked away. _How do I tell a teenager I am going away for the weekend with a man?_

Emily grinned. "Oh, I see! You have plans with a certain detective don't you?" Emily leaned toward Gillian "so tell me! What are you doing?"

Gillian stared at Emily with wide eyes. "Uh, well, we're, uh…"

"You don't have to be careful what you say Gill. I'm not a child." Emily sat up straighter in her chair and gave Gillian a serious look. "Ooohh! Where is he taking you?"

Gillian giggled. "Emily!"

"Oh come on! You have to tell me now. I'll be dying of curiosity!"

Gillian shook her head at the girl. "Oh, all right. We're going to his cabin in the mountains." She closed her eyes and tried to hide her embarrassment.

Emily was quiet for a second. "Oh. That sounds nice."

Gillian looked up at her. "Emily? What's wrong? You don't seem so happy for me."

"No, no, I am. I'm sure you'll have a good time." Emily stood to go.

"Wait, Em. What's going on? Are you sure everything's okay?"

"It's nothing Gill. I told Dad I wouldn't say anything. And I won't! So, don't ask." Emily kept walking toward the door. "All I'll say is that he'll miss you Friday night."

Gillian wasn't sure what to say. "I'm sorry Em. Maybe another time?"

"Sure. Enjoy your weekend Gill." Emily left quietly.

Gillian sat in her office wondering what the hell had just happened. First Cal comes in acting a bit off. Then this conversation with Emily.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the telephone. She jumped up to answer it. "Dr. Foster." She sat back behind her desk. "Yes, Mr. Ahrens. Dr. Lightman and I will be there first thing in the morning."

* * *

The next morning, Gillian met Cal at 8:00 in his office. They got into the car and drove toward the bank. She wasn't sure how to ask him if everything was all right. She decided to just come right out with it. He'd catch on to anything she tried to do surreptitiously.

"Cal?"

"Yes love?" He looked over at her as he was driving.

"Are you okay?"

Cal turned toward her with a funny look on his face. "Yeah, far as I know. Why?"

"I was just wondering. You seemed a little off yesterday." Gillian was watching him closely. She couldn't see anything untruthful on his face.

"To hear everyone in the office talk, I'm a little off every day!" Cal laughed.

"Cal. I'm serious. I talked with Emily yesterday and she seemed a little concerned about you too."

"Oh. My daughter seemed concerned about me did she? What exactly did she say?" _Emily Lightman. I told you not to interfere!_

"Nothing horrendous, Cal! She just said you had been a little down lately and she thought you might be lonely."

"Oh she did? Well, I'm fine." He looked over at her. He could see she was watching him for signs that he was lying. His mask was in place. "Seriously, Gill. I don't know where she gets this stuff. What was she trying to sucker you into?"

"Nothing, Cal." She laughed at him. It was quiet for a minute. She turned back toward him. "If something was bothering you, you would come to me right?"

"If something were wrong, I would come to you and only you love. But, there is nothing wrong, okay?"

"Okay."

_Oh Emily. You and I obviously need to have a chat young lady! What part of 'leave this alone' did you not understand?_

**TBC**

**Next chap… Gillian and Noah's weekend. Cal and Emily's **_**talk**_**.**


	25. Chapter 25

**This chapter was over 4,000 words, so I had to cut it! I know I said this would be Gill and Noah's weekend, but that will be the next chapter… don't worry it's nearly finished so it will be posted soon! I just really felt like I needed this Cal/Gill interaction first. Things need to be in their proper place…**

**Thanks for hanging with me. I know some of you are less than thrilled with Noah. I'm expecting some 'hate' reviews. I don't mind you speaking your mind! I ship Cal/Gillian! **_**Please be patient!**_

Cal went home early that night. Emily was staying at his place and they were gonna have a little chat. He couldn't believe she went to Gillian and said he was depressed and lonely. He understood what she was trying to do, but that was not the way to do it. Besides, hadn't he told her to stay out of it? _'Romance crazy teenager.' _When he thought about it, it occurred to him that Gillian was the one responsible for the romantic notions of his cheeky daughter. It was Gillian who had introduced her to the romance novels and the romance movies. She most certainly didn't get it from Zoe. Romantic was not a word he would ever use to describe his ex-wife.

Cal came in to find Emily in the kitchen. She was making dinner. As soon as he walked in she looked over at him. She saw the look on his face. Before he could even speak, she started. "Dad, I know what you're thinking. I know Gillian probably asked you some weird questions today and I hope you let me explain before you start yelling at me."

"Oh, you know what I'm thinkin, do ya? Then you should know that I am more than a little angry right now! Em, I told you to stay out of it!" Cal made his way across the room. "What part of that was not clear to you? You know Gillian! You know that she cares about people so much that she would be all over me if you told her that I was depressed!" He was standing almost nose to nose with her now. "What were you hoping to accomplish by making her feel sorry for me? Did you want her to feel guilty about her weekend? Why would you say those things to her?"

Emily had been slowly backing away from her dad. "I'm sorry! I just went in to say hello… and we were talking about this weekend and she said she wouldn't be around. I asked her what her plans were and when she said she was going out of town with Noah, I just panicked!" She was backed against the kitchen counter now. "I'm sorry! I wasn't trying to make her feel guilty about anything!"

"Em… I'm sorry. I'm tryin to keep my cool here. But, I told you not to say anything to Gillian about any feelings that I might have for her. And, you completely disregarded that." He turned and took a few steps away from her.

Emily took a second to digest what her father had just said. "No, Dad. I didn't tell Gillian about the feelings you have for her. She asked me what was wrong and I said I told you I wouldn't say anything and for her not to ask me. And she didn't." Emily went toward him as he turned to her. "Dad, you should tell her. I know she has feelings for you. I saw the way she looked at you when she was staying here and you were taking care of her."

"Emily. That's what you don't understand. Of course Gillian showed feelings when she was here. She was hurting and we were helping her. She was grateful to us."

"No Dad. She was grateful to me. She loves you."

Cal didn't know what to say to that. He walked the last few steps toward Emily and put his arms around her. "I know your heart is in the right place love. I know you just want your old man to be happy. But, you need to think about what this means for Gillian. She doesn't know how I feel. She's just gotten out of a troublesome marriage. She is currently seeing someone who treats her very well. She's happy with him. Saying anything to her about my feelings would just muddy the water for her. We can't do that. It wouldn't be fair. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, I understand. I didn't mean to cause any trouble. I really just want you both to be happy." Emily paused and then added "I really want you to be happy together. I don't want Gillian getting hurt. But, what about you dad? What does this mean for you?"

Cal felt a knot forming in his stomach. He was the luckiest dad in the world to have a daughter who was so concerned for him. He wanted to tell Gillian how he felt more than anything. But, he couldn't do that to her. He wouldn't do that to her. If it was meant for them to be together, it would happen. If not, he would be the best friend to Gillian that he could possibly be. It would be hard as hell, but he wanted her in his life and if that was the only way he could have her there, then he would live with it.

* * *

Gillian stared at the ceiling for what seemed like hours. She needed to sleep, but sleep wasn't coming. She had packed her bags for the weekend and they were by the door ready to go. The whole time she packed she thought about her conversations with Emily and Cal the day before. And now she was lying in bed, still thinking.

'_What am I missing?' _Cal had come into her office and pointed out how giddy she was, but he didn't ask why. Did he somehow know about her weekend plans? _ 'He couldn't have-I had just found out.' _Emily was not happy for her about her trip this weekend. She said her Dad was depressed and lonely. Emily also said he would miss her on Friday. When she asked Emily what was wrong, she said "nothing", but then she said Cal told her not to say anything. And then she told Gillian not to ask. _ 'Oh, why didn't I ask?' _

Gillian looked at the clock. 1:15. She was frustrated that she couldn't get to sleep. She got up and went to the kitchen. Maybe some warm milk would help. So, why was she reaching for the scotch? _'Well that goes down warm…' _ At this rate, what difference did it make?

Gillian made her way to her couch in the dark. She curled up with her glass of scotch in hand. As she sipped it slowly, she thought of the conversation she had with Cal that morning. He said if something was wrong, he would come to her. She believed that was true. But, what if the something wrong _was_ her? He wouldn't come to her then, would he? Maybe there is a problem. Maybe she has been so wrapped up with Noah lately, that she's missed it. Cal **would** protect her from things unnecessarily; she knew that from past experience.

Gillian knew she had been scarce at the office lately. She used to stay late several nights a week, even if it wasn't necessary. Most of that time had been spent with Cal. Lately she was rushing out the door, usually to go and spend time with Noah. Is that what was bothering Cal? Was he lonely because she hadn't been around? Was it something more? _'Oh God, Gillian. Don't go there.' _She couldn't afford to let her thoughts go to those feelings she knew she and Cal had always shared, but never acknowledged. The line was still firmly in place. Her mind was betraying her though. It was going to all the shared moments between them when she had been at his place. All the glances he didn't know she saw. The love she saw in his eyes… _'No, Gillian. Stop! You're not right! Don't do this. You'll just ruin everything. Cal is your friend-your best friend. He will never be more. Just accept that. You aren't the kind of woman he would ever want. The love he feels for you is different. It's caring and deep-but it's friendship, nothing more.'_

Gillian downed the last of the scotch. She got up from the couch shaking her head. She was an idiot. She took the glass to the kitchen and then went back to her room. She climbed into bed and switched her focus to her weekend with Noah.

* * *

The next morning Gillian went into the office early. She had only gotten a few hours of sleep. She was supposed to be ready to go by noon. That was when Noah was picking her up at her place. Originally she had told Cal she wouldn't be in at all today. But, she needed to see him. To make sure he was all right. If she was honest with herself, she wanted to see him to be sure what she had been thinking the night before was, in fact, wrong.

Gillian arrived at 7:45, early even for her. She knew Cal wouldn't be in yet. She went to her office to clear up some last minute paperwork. It didn't need to be done today. It could have waited until she got back in on Monday. But, it was a good reason for her to have to come in this morning.

Gillian was sitting at her desk with her head buried in the budget report when Cal came bursting through her door. "What are you doin here love? I thought you weren't gonna to be in today?"

"Hello Cal." Gillian looked up and closed the file she had been looking through. "I just wanted to finish a few things so I wouldn't have to deal with them on Monday. Besides, we aren't leaving until noon."

"Oh, all right. Well, you know there's no rush with that stuff. It's not going anywhere." Cal gave her a little grin.

"Don't I know it." Gillian stood up and walked around her desk until she was facing him. "Cal…" She stopped not sure what she wanted to say.

When she didn't continue, Cal stepped toward her and took her hands in his. "What's wrong love?"

Gillian tried twice to say something, but she wasn't sure what she wanted to say. Finally she said "Cal. _Are_ you okay? Because, I don't have to go away this weekend. I can stick around…"

Cal looked at her with his mask securely in place. "You deserve this weekend love. Go. Have a good time with Noah."

"Cal. You didn't answer my question." She waited for him to look her in the eye. "Are you okay Cal?"

"Yes, Gill. I'm fine. Don't worry about what Emily said. I don't know where her head is. There is nothin going on with me."

Gillian was studying Cal's face. She saw nothing that would indicate he was being dishonest with her. She pulled her hands away from him and turned to walk back to her desk chair. "Okay. I have to believe you, I guess." She paused for a bit. He didn't say anything. He just stood looking at his hands that she had just let go of. "If there is something you want to talk to me about, you know you can, right? You can talk to me about anything."

He looked into her eyes, mask still in place. "I know Gill."

"Okay. I need to get going. I'll have my cell phone. If you need me."

Cal had said that last part with her. They looked at each other and smiled. "I know . And I'm here if you need me too."

Gillian grabbed her purse and her jacket. She walked around to Cal and held her arms out. He closed the distance between them and pulled her into a tight hug. When they pulled apart, Cal smiled at her and said "Have a good time love." Gillian could see that his smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Okay. I'll see you on Monday." Gillian turned and left him standing in her office.

Cal watched her go. He hoped he hadn't just screwed up. He thought she might have been opening the door for him to tell her about his feelings, but he wasn't certain. So, he had kept his mouth shut. _'Cal Lightman. You may have just blown that.' _No, he felt like he did the right thing. She needed this time with Noah. As much as he didn't want her to have it, it would keep her from wondering 'what if.'

* * *

Gillian drove home thinking about the exchange she just had with Cal. She had opened the door for him and he had not walked through. She wasn't sure what to think. But, she needed to stop dwelling on it. If Cal had wanted to, he could have asked her not to go. He could have made up some excuse, but he didn't. So, she would go enjoy her weekend with the good detective. _'The handsome, romantic, loving, and caring detective.'_ She smiled to herself. She was looking forward to a romantic weekend with someone who cared for and wanted her very much. She just hoped she was ready for the next level of intimacy that would surely be reached between them.

**TBC**

**Gillian and Noah's weekend! Don't hate. ;-)**


	26. Chapter 26

**WARNING! This is a long, fluffy, and romance filled Gill/Noah weekend chapter. If you don't want to experience the weekend magic, at least read the first few paragraphs as they become important in future chapters.**

**The rating is T+. Nothing too graphic, just implied. This is the first time I have ever written anything like this. I have obsessed over it. I hope it doesn't sound ridiculous. I tried to keep it PG-13. Let me know if the rating is wrong.**

**Don't own anything, except Noah-who was my very own creation!**

Noah picked Gillian up at exactly 12pm. She saw tension on his face the second he showed up at her door. "Are you okay Noah?"

Noah smiled and put a mask up as he looked at her. "I'm fine. Why? Do I look bad?"

"No. No, you look fantastic. I just noticed a little tension… and I…" Gillian immediately wished she hadn't said anything. She saw him flinch at her words. "I'm sorry. I… just…"

"Gillian. It's okay. I've had a couple bad days at work. I don't like to take it home with me. So, I leave it there." Noah took her bags and walked to his SUV. She set her alarm, locked her door and followed him.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but it's still with you." Gillian was concerned and didn't want him hiding something that was bothering him for the sake of their weekend.

"Really, Gillian, it's nothing that is going to ruin this weekend. I promise." Noah shut the back of his Yukon and came up to her on the passenger side. "I have a feeling after a few hours with you; all my troubles will melt away." He opened the door for her and she climbed in. Gillian wasn't sure what to think about the exchange they just had. For now, she wouldn't push it. But she guessed it was going to have to be addressed at some point.

* * *

They hit the road quickly hoping to avoid the Friday afternoon, west bound traffic. Things were a little slow until after they got west of Centreville. The commuting traffic on Route 66 was a nightmare on Friday's, but luckily they had reached Manassas before 2pm. Traffic was pretty clear the rest of the way out. Noah had a CD playing in the car.

"Who is this? It doesn't sound familiar." Gillian liked the music but had never heard it before.

Noah reached into the console and handed her a CD case. "The band is called 'Junkfood.' They're a local group. My wife was friends with the lead singer's twin brothers. Their families were close."

Gillian was giggling. "Junkfood? How can anyone be bad with a name like that?"

Noah left the interstate at the Linden exit. He pulled the car into the parking lot of the Apple House. "Pit stop! We always stop here to get the best donuts on the east coast!" He turned the car off and hopped out. Gillian followed.

They went inside the combination store/restaurant. Gillian looked around and smiled. "Any place that sells homemade apple butter and Vera Bradley right next to each other is my kind of place!"

They looked around for a few minutes. Noah then led her into the restaurant. It was like an old fashioned 'Mom and Pop' place with a lot of good old, southern food on the menu. Noah had grabbed a jar of apple butter and ordered a dozen donuts. They made their way back to the car.

Thirty minutes later, Noah pulled up in front of the cabin. Gillian could only stare. It was beautiful. It was on the side of the mountain overlooking the Shenandoah River. The leaves on the trees were at the perfect turning point. Shades of yellow, orange and red were all around them.

Noah carried the groceries he had bought before picking her up in through the front door. Gillian was standing on the porch staring out over the trees. The sun was just beginning its descent over the mountain in front of them and it was casting shadows in the trees. Noah came out and saw how captivated Gillian was. He walked up behind her and snaked his arms around her waist. "Beautiful isn't it?"

"It's incredible. Noah, thank you so much for inviting me out here." Gillian turned in his arms to face him. She put her arms around his neck. He leaned down and captured her lips. They shared a passionate kiss. "We should get everything else inside."

"Go on in and look around. I'll get the bags." He kissed her again.

Gillian walked inside. It was just as pretty inside as it was out. Noah came in behind her with the bags. "Are you hungry?"

"I'm starving! What can I help you with?" Gillian went into the kitchen. Noah followed her after dropping their bags in the hall.

"I brought chicken and veggies for stir-fry. Does that sound okay?"

"It sounds wonderful."

* * *

A few hours later, they had cleaned up the dishes from dinner and Gillian had ventured back out onto the porch. She sat in a big swing at one end. The sun was nothing but an orange glow, low in the sky and hidden by the mountain in front of them. Noah came out a few minutes later carrying a blanket. Gillian didn't realize how chilly it had gotten until Noah put the blanket around her shoulders. "Thanks. It's gotten chilly."

"Yeah, it gets pretty cool out here once the sun has gone down." He sat next to her and pulled her close. They sat in silence swinging slowly back and forth.

After a few minutes Gillian let loose a big yawn. Noah squeezed her shoulder and stood up. "Let's go in. I'll start a fire and we can watch a movie or something. How does that sound?"

Gillian stood up. "That sounds wonderful."

* * *

By 8:30, they were snuggled on the couch in front of a roaring fire with "The Proposal" playing on the TV. Noah was leaning back in the middle of the couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table. Gillian was curled up on his right side with her head lying on his chest.

Noah was rubbing small circles on Gillian's back with his right hand and playing with her hair with his left. The movie had been playing for about thirty minutes when Noah felt Gillian's muscles starting to twitch. He knew she was falling asleep. She had looked tired when he picked her up earlier. He had a sneaking suspicion she still wasn't sleeping well. He had tried to ask her about it, but she had managed to change the subject without answering him. _'She's good at that.'_

Noah sat there for another thirty minutes before he moved to wake her up. If she stayed in this position much longer, her neck would be a mess. He sat up and eased her off of him. He leaned her back against the couch cushion and then turned to face her. She looked so peaceful and beautiful. He hated to wake her.

"Gillian. Gillian." He shook her shoulder gently. She didn't respond. He put his hand on her cheek and said her name again. She started to stir. He said her name once again and she startled and jerked awake.

"Ahh!" She immediately brought her hands to a defensive position in front of her and squeezed her eyes shut.

Noah gently grabbed her hands. "It's okay, hon. It's just me."

Gillian opened her eyes slowly. "I'm sorry. I guess you startled me."

"Don't apologize. I'm sorry I had to wake you. You looked so peaceful. I just didn't want you to wake up with a sore neck."

Gillian looked around. "What time is it?"

Noah looked at his watch. "It's close to 10:00. You're tired huh?"

"Yeah, I am. Would you be upset if I turned in early tonight?"

"No, I'm pretty tired myself. I'll turn in too. I'll go make up the extra room for you." He stood to go.

"Noah, wait. Um, I, uh…" _'Spit it out Gillian!' _"I don't want to be any trouble."

"It's no trouble. I don't want you to feel pressured about anything. As much as I would love to hold you in my arms all night, I really want you to be comfortable."

Gillian stood up beside him and put her arms around him. "I would love for you to hold me in your arms all night. I'm not sure if I want anything further tonight…"

Noah put his arms around her. "We only go as far as you want Gillian. I'd be happy to do nothing but hold you all weekend. You're in control here."

Gillian took a deep breath. "I would love to sleep in your arms tonight. But, for tonight, I just want to sleep. Okay?"

Noah smiled at her. "Okay."

* * *

Gillian woke the next morning cuddled up in Noah's arms. That was the best night's sleep she had gotten in a while. She opened her eyes to find him staring at her and smiling. "Good morning, beautiful."

She could feel herself blushing. "Good morning, handsome."

Gillian was finishing her second Apple House donut and she was enjoying it immensely. "Mmmm. You're right. These donuts are amazing especially when you warm them up."

"I could watch you eat those donuts all day." Noah walked over to her and put his arms around her. "It's almost as fun as watching you eat chocolate." Noah smiled at her before leaning down and capturing her lips.

"If we keep this up, we'll never get out of here." Gillian pulled back slightly with a smile on her face.

"Okay then. Let's go!" Noah led her out of the cabin and to the truck.

The hike through Shenandoah National Park was beautiful. Gillian was mesmerized by the view from the top of Old Rag Mountain. The hike lasted almost 6 hours. They were more than ready for dinner by the time they got back to the cabin.

"I can get dinner together if you want to jump in the shower first." Noah started to work in the kitchen.

"Oh, that would be fantastic. You cook while I shower and I'll clean up the kitchen while you shower. Deal?"

Noah smiled and gave Gillian a kiss "Deal."

After dinner, Noah showered while Gillian cleaned up the dinner dishes. When he was finished, he found Gillian on the front porch in the swing.

"Come on. There's something I want to show you." Noah grabbed both their jackets and headed toward the truck. She followed him from the porch.

"What is it? Are we leaving? Where are we going?"

Noah was laughing at her. "Are you always so inquisitive? Never mind. I know the answer to that!"

Noah drove them down the mountain and back along a gravel road. He pulled up into a field and parked. "Come on. You're going to love this."

Gillian got out of the truck. "Where are we?"

"A friend of mine owns this property. We always come here to launch into the river when we go canoeing and fishing. And…" he came from the back of the truck with a cooler and some blankets "when we want to see the stars."

Noah looked up. "You don't realize how much the glow of the city lights affects the night sky."

Gillian followed his eyes up to the sky. "Oh, my God. I've never seen so many stars." She stopped and stared up in awe.

Noah put his arm around her shoulders and led her toward the river. They stopped by a fire pit. He put down one of the blankets and helped Gillian to sit on it. He then went to a pile of wood and brought back several pieces. As Gillian sat staring at the stars, and pointing out constellations, Noah got a fire going.

"I didn't know you knew so much about astronomy. Although, I should have guessed."

Gillian looked at him funny. "Why do you say that?"

"Because, Gillian Foster, stars are romantic. And one of the things I love about you is that you are a hopeless romantic." Noah had the fire started and sat down beside her on the blanket.

"Are you making fun of me, Noah Parker?" Gillian glared at him in mock anger.

He grabbed her around her waist and pulled her back to lie next to him on the blanket. "Absolutely not! I happened to love the romantic side of you." Noah then started pointing out several constellations.

Gillian started giggling. "So, I take it you are a hopeless romantic too?"

"I've been known to dabble in that department." He turned toward her and kissed her with more passion than she had ever felt from him.

Gillian felt the tingles go through her body. The butterflies attacked her stomach and shivers were running down her spine. When he pulled back from her, she let out a long sigh. "Wow."

Noah laughed. "Wow is good, right?"

Gillian laughed too. "Yes. Wow is very good!" They stayed cuddled together for a few minutes and then Noah got up. "Hey! Where are you going?"

"I'm getting surprise number two!" He came back to her with the cooler she had seen him take out of the truck. "Dessert is served."

Noah pulled everything out that they needed to make s'mores. Gillian was so excited she couldn't stop smiling.

"I can't remember the last time I made s'mores!" She was staring at Noah. He caught her looking at him. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me Gillian. I should be thanking you. You have no idea how good it feels to be with you right now, right here. I wish this weekend would never end."

Several s'mores and several childhood stories later, they packed up everything and put out the fire. Noah drove them back to the house. He carried everything into the house and then went to lock up. When he came back he found Gillian sitting on the couch. She had started a fire in the fireplace.

She smiled at him. "Come sit with me."

Noah sat and she cuddled up against him. She was stroking his arm and he was playing with her hair. She sat up to face him. They were looking into each other's eyes. Gillian moved toward him and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. After a few minutes, she pulled his shirt over his head. She ran her hands over his chest. He put his hands on her cheeks and stared into her eyes. "We don't have to do this."

She reached down and grabbed the hem of her shirt. She stared at him, seeing the desire in his eyes. "I want to." She pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it on the floor. They both smiled.

Noah grabbed the blanket from the couch and laid it on the rug in front of the fireplace. He then sat down and put his hand out to her. She walked over and took his hand. He pulled her down beside him and wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her neck, across her chest and back up the other side. "You are so beautiful." Gillian turned away from him shyly. "Hey. I'm serious." He put his finger under her chin and turned her face back toward him. "I'm guessing you haven't been told that enough. You can see my face right?" She nodded yes. "Then you know I'm telling the truth." Gillian put her arms around his neck and pulled his face to hers. They kissed.

Noah pulled away. "Gillian. You're shaking. Are you sure this is what you want?" She ran her fingers over his chest and then to the button on his jeans. She unbuttoned them. He grabbed her hands. "Gillian. Talk to me. This can't go further until I know what's going on in that pretty head of yours."

"Noah. I'm fine. And I do want this." She paused and brought her hands back to his chest. "It's just, it's been… it's been a long time since I've…" She looked away from him. He said nothing, just waited patiently for her to get out what she needed to. "Alec and I weren't really… sexually active for quite some time before we split. We were married for almost 10 years, and I'm just… I'm…"

He gently stroked her cheek. "This only goes where you want. We can take our time."

Gillian smiled at him. "I don't want to wait any longer. I just need to go slow, okay?"

"Okay." He lightly stroked her chest and pulled down her bra straps. He kissed her shoulder and then across the tops of her breasts to the other shoulder.

Noah went excruciatingly slow. Gillian couldn't believe all the things she was feeling. It had been so long since she had been touched like that. She was nearly overwhelmed by the sensations. They spent a long time touching and exploring each other. Noah had flipped her on top of him. He wanted her to be in control. Gillian gasped when he entered her. She had nearly forgotten how wonderful it was to feel so close and connected to someone. She was moving slowly on top of him. She could see the pleasure on his face. He looked up at her and smiled. He reached and stroked her cheek and ran his finger over her lips. She leaned down and kissed him. Noah put his arms around her and sat up. He raised her up and then gently lowered her onto her back. He moved between her legs and entered her again. He touched her and urged her on until she went over the edge. Only then did he seek his relief. They stayed tangled in each other's limbs until they both were breathing normally. Noah rolled off of Gillian and snuggled beside her.

"You okay?" He was softly running his fingers over her stomach. He loved the involuntary twitches he was causing.

Gillian opened her eyes and looked at him. "I am so much more than okay. That was amazing. You are amazing."

He smiled back at her. "No Gillian, I think we're amazing together."

They snuggled by the fireplace until the fire burned down. Then they headed to bed. Noah snuggled behind Gillian with his arms around her. He felt her twitch and then her breathing slowed. He leaned close and kissed the side of her head. "I love you."

**FYI-"Junkfood" is a real band that is popular in the DC area. They have two CD's out. I grew up with the lead singer and his older twin brothers.**

**The Apple House is a real place in Linden, VA. **

**Old Rag Mountain is in the Shenandoah National Park. **

**TBC**


	27. Chapter 27

**I know it has been forever since I updated. Please forgive me. Life has gotten in the way! This is a chapter to bring me out of my funk and get me back in the story. Hopefully, I will be able to keep some inspiration going on this… **

Gillian walked into the Lightman Group on Monday morning with a cup of coffee in one hand and a cup of tea for Cal in her other. She was early and knew he wouldn't be in yet. She went to his office and left the cup of tea on his desk. As she made her way to her office she saw Ben coming from the lab.

"Good morning Ben." She smiled at him until she noticed the grim look on his face. "What's going on?" Her eyes widened in alarm.

"Gillian. I guess Lightman didn't call you." Ben shook his head and looked at the ground.

"No. He didn't. What's going on?"

"Let's go into your office. I think you need to sit down for this." Ben fell in beside her and grabbed her elbow as they walked.

"Ben, what happened? Is Cal hurt? Is someone else?" Gillian started to feel the panic in her gut.

"No one is hurt, at least no one we know." Ben led her to her desk chair. Gillian slipped off her jacket and Ben hung it on the coat stand in the corner.

"Okay. Spit it out. What happened?" Gillian was starting to feel a little angry that she wasn't in the loop with whatever was going on.

Ben stared at her for a second. He took a deep breath and put his hands on his hips. "I gotta go get Lightman. He's gonna want to tell you this." He started to leave her office. Ben was shocked when he felt her grab his arm and spin him toward her.

"Oh no, Agent Reynolds! Out with it!" Gillian had a death grip on his bicep. "Now!"

"Oi, Foster! Stop manhandlin' the employees! You're supposed to be the nice one!" Cal came through her office door with his cup of tea in hand. "You're early. I thought I'd beat you here."

Gillian let go of Ben's arm and stepped toward Cal. "What is going on Cal?"

"Take it easy love." Cal held up his free hand until she stopped advancing on him. He took hold of her arm and led her to the large chairs in the corner of her office. "I didn't call you because it wasn't anything worth ruining your weekend over. I knew you'd be safe with Noah."

Gillian felt the panic return. "You knew I'd be safe… from what? What's happened?"

"Well, nothing's _happened_ exactly…" Cal paused as if he was trying to find the words to explain it to her. "The DC Police Narcotics Unit called me yesterday evening. They had a known drug dealer get beat to a pulp late Saturday night. He was in the hospital. When he woke up, he gave them a message 'Tell Gillian that Pac Man hopes she had a nice, relaxing weekend.'" Cal leaned over and took her hand. He could see the fear in her eyes.

"Oh my God." Gillian tried hard to keep from shaking. "This is never going to be over." She pulled her hand from Cal and wrapped her arms around her middle protectively.

Cal saw her retreating into herself. "Gillian. Gill." She didn't respond to him. It was like she couldn't hear him. He knelt down in front of her. He put his hand under her chin and raised her face to look at him. When he was sure she realized he was there, he wrapped his arms around her.

* * *

Noah Parker came through the doors of the Lightman Group like a man on a mission. He swept past Heidi with a quick nod. He looked into Cal's office. "He's with Dr. Foster. They're in her office" Heidi offered.

"Thanks." Noah quickly made his way to Gillian's office. Agent Reynolds was leaving as he got to the door. They nodded at each other.

Noah went through the door and immediately went to Gillian. She and Cal had been sitting on the comfortable chairs in the corner of her office. Gillian stood and met Noah as he came to her. He folded her into his arms. "I found out when I got in this morning. They didn't call me because the narcotics unit was handling it and they didn't put two and two together to see that my case was related. Are you okay, hon?"

Gillian wrapped her arms around Noah. "I'm okay." She stepped back from him. "Who knew we were going out of town this weekend? The only people I talked to about it were Cal and Emily."

Noah was shaking his head. "My kids and my in-laws were the only people out of work that knew. My Sergeant and Lieutenant knew I would be gone. No one else knew."

"How did he know then? My God! Is he following me?" Gillian was a mixture of angry, scared and upset.

Cal stood up then and interjected "Well, the FBI is giving us a few agents to escort you from now until we find this nut."

Agent Reynolds re-entered the room. "My boss is sending over two teams. One will be with you all day and the other will be taking the night shift. No one is going to get within ten feet of you without us knowing."

* * *

The next three weeks dragged by for Gillian. Everywhere she went, she had two FBI agents with her. She felt safe, but she hated giving up her privacy. Before all this happened, she had been a rather private person who liked her alone time. Lately, someone was with her constantly. It was wearing on her.

Gillian had gone shopping with Meredith and helped her find the perfect homecoming dress. Noah had invited Gillian over on the big night. She helped Meredith get ready. She had then stayed the night since Meredith was staying with a friend after the dance. That was the first night she and Noah had spent together since their weekend in the mountains. It had been wonderful. After Meredith had gone, they shared dinner by candle light. Noah had told Gillian to bring her swimsuit. After dinner, they went to the backyard and spent an hour in the hot tub. That was followed by a warm shower. Noah brushed Gillian's hair and then gave her a relaxing massage. He insisted she needed to be pampered. She didn't argue. He made her feel like a queen. They shared a passionate night after which Noah served her breakfast in bed.

Gillian was happy with Noah. She enjoyed his company, found him extremely attractive, and there was no doubt they had sexual chemistry. Even with all of that, something felt the slightest bit off. Gillian was sure it had something to do with her ability to 'read' Noah. He insisted it didn't bother him, but Gillian sensed it was a problem. She did her best not to read him, but you can't always turn it off. In fact, Gillian didn't want to turn it off. She wouldn't go through another relationship with blinders on.

Gillian had seen Noah, on more than a few occasions, upset about something that had happened at work. Every time she asked him about it he would stonewall her and put up his mask. He insisted he didn't like to bring the dark side of his work home. This bothered Gillian, but when she tried to discuss it with Noah, he shut her down. It was going to have to be addressed, but at the moment, the Court date was fast approaching and Gillian couldn't think about much else.

**TBC**

**Not an earth shattering chapter, I know. I hope it wasn't too disappointing. **


	28. Chapter 28

**I've been working on this chapter FOREVER. The show isn't giving me much inspiration to do my Cal/Gill interactions. Last night's ep was awesome. I hope it leads to better things for Lightman/Foster. **

**This was always going to end up a Cal/Gillian fic, but, I have actually had a few requests to keep Noah around since Cal has been such a bastard lately… I have to admit, that is appealing. **

**Enjoy! As per usual, I own nothing. If I did, Cal would be less of a jerk at the moment! **

Gillian had met twice with the prosecutor this week. She felt confident about her testimony, but nervous about actually taking the stand. She hadn't seen Noah since Friday evening when they had shared dinner at her place. Before that, she hadn't seen him for almost a week. He was working non-stop preparing last minute things for the trial.

Gillian sat at her desk well after everyone else left the building looking over the questions she would be asked on the stand the next day. The prosecutor told her to be prepared to be questioned aggressively by the defense attorney. Even though she had been declared an expert witness, they were expecting her to be attacked in an attempt to make her appear less than credible to the jury.

The prosecutor had tried to give Gillian tips on what to wear and how to sit and who to look at. She practically finished his sentences for him. She was no stranger to preparing people for Court. She and Cal had done that for several clients over the years. She knew to wear blue or green, go lighter on the make-up, and no flashy jewelry. She knew to look at the jury while she was testifying. She also knew to only answer the question she was asked and to not 'offer up' information to the defense unless they specifically asked for it.

Gillian was very prepared. Yet, she was terrified. It was one thing to know what you needed to do and rehearse it endlessly. It was another thing entirely to have to do it in front of a room full of people, a judge, a jury, and the person who had victimized you. Her stomach was flip flopping. She stared down at her notes and felt so overwhelmed. She brought her hands to her face and rested her elbows on her desk. She was willing her head to stop pounding and her stomach to calm when Cal came bursting into the office.

"Hey love." Cal flopped down in a chair. "You still lookin' over your questions for tomorrow?"

Gillian peeked at him through her fingers and then looked down at the papers in front of her. "Trying to." She covered her face again and let out a long sigh.

"Have you eaten yet?" Cal was fairly certain she hadn't left her office since well before lunch time. "Might be easier to focus with some food in your belly."

"I don't feel like I can eat anything." Gillian dropped her hands on her desk and looked up at Cal. "I want tomorrow to be over with."

Cal could see how tired she was. She looked pale and there were dark circles under her eyes, blatant signs of her lack of sleep. "So, when was the last time you got a decent night's sleep?"

"Cal…" Gillian's chin dropped to her chest.

"Don't 'Cal' me." He got up from his chair and made his way around her desk. "Come on. Put that away. You've surely got it memorized by now." Cal took hold of her arm and tugged her up and out of her chair.

"What are you doing? Cal, stop. Stop!" Gillian pulled her arm out of his grasp. She turned to stare at him. "You're not helping me here, Cal."

"Look, Love. You've been killin' yourself gettin' ready for this trial." He took hold of her arms just above her elbows. She had slipped her shoes off which now put him a few inches taller than her. She looked smaller and more vulnerable to him. "Come on Gill. Grab your papers. We'll grab a bite to eat, I'll drive you home, and then I'll go over your questions with you, okay?"

"I'm really not hungry Cal." Gillian whined.

"So, humor me then. I'm hungry and I'm gonna eat. Do you really want me to be one of those lonely people sittin' by myself? Starin' into space 'cause I got no one to talk to?"

"Oh, please!" Gillian rolled her eyes, but a small smile did make its way to her lips.

Cal reached down and pulled her shoes from under her desk. He sat them right in front of her feet so all she had to do was step into them. "So, it's settled then. Let's go."

* * *

Gillian did eat a small salad and a large piece of chocolate cake. Cal was glad he forced her to come out. It was the first time they had spent together in quite a while. He was happy to have her all to himself for at least a few hours. When he drove her home, he parked his car and grabbed her file.

"Cal, you don't have to help me. I can get inside okay. I have my watchdogs remember?" She gestured toward the FBI Agents who had been following them.

"I know that, love. I said I would help you go over your testimony, and I am a man of my word." He came around to the passenger side of the car where she was standing. He pointed her toward the door. "After you, my dear."

* * *

Two hours and a few glasses of scotch later, Cal had gone to the kitchen to make some tea. When he came back into the room, he found Gillian asleep on the couch. She had been sitting on one end with her legs curled under her, her notes for Court in front of her. Now she was basically in the same position but her head was leaning on the back of the couch, her eyes were closed and she was breathing deeply.

Cal sat on the other end of the couch and watched Gillian sleep. He wished she didn't have to deal with any of this. He thought back to when he got the call that she was in the hospital. He had never been so worried in his life. The drive to the hospital seemed to take forever. He remembered when he first saw her in the emergency room. She looked so fragile and broken. So much had happened since then. Noah had become a stable factor in her life, pushing Cal to a back seat. He just wanted her to be happy and it did appear that Noah made her happy. But he couldn't help but wish he had made a move when he had the opportunity. All those days she was at his house, all those days he and Emily had cared for her. It was then he had realized how much he truly loved this woman. Why had he kept his feelings to himself? Maybe Emily was right, he should have said something to Gillian.

Gillian flinched suddenly drawing Cal's attention out of his thoughts. She looked uncomfortable. She was becoming restless and Cal could tell she was dreaming. He wondered if she was still having nightmares. She would never tell him if she was. She would be too embarrassed to admit that. Even though they both understood that it was a normal process.

Cal scooted over to her and placed his hand on her arm. "Gill. I'm right here, love. You're safe." He was softly touching her, trying to let her know he was there without frightening her. She jumped slightly and then her eyes flew open. Cal saw the fear for just a second before she saw him and recognized where she was.

"Hey love. All right?" He still had his hand on her arm.

"Yeah. I'm fine." She took his hand in hers and gave him a small, unconvincing smile.

"Well, that's not exactly true." He squeezed her hand and gave her a knowing look. "How have you been sleeping lately?" _'Go on then Gill. Lie to me on this one. I can take one look at you and know you're not sleepin' worth a crap.'_

"Better. Not as soundly as before this all happened, but better." Gillian answered him honestly. "Didn't expect that answer huh?"

"Honestly, no. I thought you'd pull the 'fine' card on me actually." Cal smiled at her. He was glad she was being honest with him.

"Not worth the argument to try to slip that by you." Gillian smiled back at him.

"Why don't you head up to bed? I can stay if you want. I am fond of your guest bedroom." Cal was studying her face.

Gillian laughed. "You don't have to stay Cal. I actually do okay with my FBI babysitters on hand." She stood up still holding his hand. "But, thanks for the offer."

Cal stood up beside her. "If you're sure, love."

"I'm sure." She gave his hand a squeeze and let go. She walked toward the door. "You'll be at Court in the morning right?"

Cal followed her. "Absolutely. In fact, I'll pick you up at 7:30. We'll get breakfast and get there early, beat the crowd."

"I don't know that I'll be able to eat anything in the morning. You don't have to pick me up Cal."

"I know I don't have to. I want to." He stepped in front of her and took both of her hands in his. "Plus parking is a pain there. One less car will only help the situation. And I promise I won't force you to eat, much."

Gillian gave him a suspicious look. "Okay. I'll be ready at 7:30." She led him toward the door and grabbed his coat off the coat rack. "Are Loker and Torres still planning to be there?"

"Yep. If suspect number two shows up, hopefully one of us can spot him in the crowd."

Gillian got a concerned look on her face. "It really is likely that he will show up. I know that. I understand it. It doesn't make me feel very secure though."

Cal nodded his understanding. "Yeah, I know. But he will be there to make sure he isn't implicated in anything, so the last thing he will do is make a scene."

"Noah knows what you're doing right?"

"Yes. We talked about it last week. The Police Department will have several plainclothes officers there just in case. Plus Reynolds and some of his FBI blokes will be there. You'll be safe love." Cal smiled at her and pulled her into a hug.

Gillian returned the hug. "Thanks Cal, for everything. I wouldn't have gotten through this without you."

Cal pulled back from her. "I'll pick you up in the morning."

"Ok. I'll be ready."

"Call me if you need anything, I mean it." Cal squeezed her hands again to emphasize his words.

"I will. I promise." Gillian squeezed his hands in return. "Good night Cal."

"Night, Gill." He turned to leave. He waited at the bottom of the steps until he heard the door lock and the alarm set.

**TBC**

**Inspiration for this has been lacking. I promise to try harder to get you some more chaps… Seriously-the show isn't helping. **


	29. Chapter 29

**This one is long and detail laden. It's needed to move things along. Hopefully, I'll be able to update sooner. BUT-I'm making no promises. It's the Holiday season and things can be hectic!**

**Enjoy! Not mine… blah, blah.**

Cal watched as Gillian's eggs took their third trip around her plate. At least she had taken a few bites and eaten half a piece of toast. Better than facing the stressful morning on an empty stomach.

"You about done playin' with those eggs love?" Cal waited until she looked up to offer her a concerned nod.

Gillian looked back at her plate. "I'm sorry. I told you I wouldn't be able to eat this morning. My stomach is just not having it." She put her fork down and picked her napkin from her lap. She daintily wiped her mouth and then placed the napkin on the table. "I keep telling myself I have nothing to be worried about. I'll be surrounded by people, most of them law enforcement. I'll be safe. The US Attorney says the case will be no problem. I just…" she trailed off and looked down at her hands.

Cal reached over and tilted her chin up. "I'd be more worried if you weren't nervous." He gave her a thoughtful smile. "So, ready to go then?" Cal grabbed his wallet and left money on the table for the waitress. They stood together and left the restaurant.

There was a line to get through the metal detectors at the Courthouse. Cal and Gillian waited together. Her FBI babysitters had gone to the side where law enforcement officers who were armed went in. They had shown their badges, signed in, and were now waiting for Gillian at the other end of the security line.

Gillian placed her purse on the belt and walked through the metal detector. Cal emptied his pockets and came behind her. Once they were through, Gillian grabbed her purse and they headed in the direction of the courtroom.

The US Attorney, Eric Barnett, approached them as they neared the courtroom. "Dr. Foster. You all ready to go?" He reached his hand out to shake hers.

Gillian took a deep breath "Ready as I'll ever be." She shook his hand. "Eric Barnett, this is Dr. Cal Lightman." She motioned to Cal.

"Nice to meet you. You have quite the reputation around here." Eric shook Cal's hand and gave him a friendly smile.

Cal smirked slightly as he shook the man's hand and said "I'm sure you know you can't believe everything you hear."

Eric laughed "I've heard good things. I can believe those, right?"

Cal smiled. "Of course! If it's good then it's absolutely true."

They all three laughed. Eric then turned to Gillian. "Jury selection will be first. I'd like for you to be in the courtroom for that, so I can see if any of the potential jurors know you. It usually takes an hour or so. Then we'll have opening arguments. You'll be able to stay in for those. I fully expect the defense to ask for a rule on witnesses at that point. If that happens, you'll have to leave the courtroom. There is a witness room right here inside the first set of courtroom doors." He walked them through the first set of double doors and pointed to a small room with no windows. There was a table and several chairs in it. "You can wait in here. You're my second witness; however, it will be lunchtime about then. This Judge likes to take regular breaks, so we will probably go to lunch before you get called. If that happens, I'll need you to be back 15 minutes before the time the Judge indicates so we can go over any last minute things. After you testify, you can come right back in here. Then, unfortunately, I'll need you to stay around in case I need to call you back to the stand for anything." He looked at her expectantly. "Do you have any questions?"

Gillian shook her head. "Not at the moment. It seems pretty clear cut."

Cal jumped in "Will her FBI agents be allowed in the witness room with her?"

"Absolutely. You can even come in here with her if you like. She doesn't have to be alone; she just can't discuss the case with anyone." Eric responded.

Cal nodded. He put his arm around Gillian's waist. "Very well then. You ready to go in darling?"

Gillian took another deep breath and nodded her head. Eric pushed open the second set of doors and the three entered the courtroom. There were all ready several people scattered about the rows of wooden benches. Gillian saw Loker in the front of the galley near the defense table. He was seated in the front row against the wall and had turned his body at an angle so he could see everyone in the courtroom. Gillian then spotted Torres on the exact opposite side of the courtroom. She was also sitting at an angle so she could see everyone from that side of the courtroom. Agent Reynolds was sitting in the center of the aisle in the back. No one would be coming in or out of the doors without him seeing them. Gillian acknowledged each one of them. She felt a strange calm come over her at seeing her co-workers there. Cal led her to the front of the courtroom and followed her in to a row of benches behind the prosecutors table. Eric Barnett passed them and took his place at the table in front of them.

A few minutes after they were seated, Noah Parker came through the doors pushing a large cart with a television on the top. There was a DVD player and several bags and envelopes on the lower shelves. Because he was the case detective, he was responsible for getting all the property and evidence into the courtroom. He pushed the cart to the front of the room and then over toward the prosecutor's table. Once he had it settled beside the wall, he looked toward Cal and Gillian. He made sure Gillian was looking at him and he winked at her and smiled.

Gillian felt her stomach flutter. Noah had been working non-stop on this case for weeks. It had been so long since she spent any quality time with him. She smiled and nodded. Noah then walked back into the galley and took his seat on the other end of the bench they were sitting on.

The Public Defender's entered the courtroom and sat at the defense table. The bailiff gave the "All rise." Everyone in the courtroom stood and the Judge entered from the door directly behind the bench. The bailiff continued "The honorable Judge William R. Haddock presiding. Please take your seats and come to order." The bailiff headed to a door at the front of the courtroom. He opened it and led twenty prospective jurors in. The first twelve sat in the jury box, the others were led to the front row of seats in the galley.

Jury selection took just over an hour. They went right into opening arguments. Just as Eric Barnett had guessed, the defense asked for a rule on witnesses. Gillian stood and exited the courtroom followed by her two FBI agents who had been seated at the back of the galley. She left through the double doors and went into the small witness room. She was joined shortly by a woman about her age. The woman reached out and shook Gillian's hand "Hi Dr. Foster. I'm Judy Hall. I'm the victim/witness coordinator. It's my job to keep track of the witnesses for the US Attorney."

Gillian smiled at the woman "It's nice to meet you."

"If you need anything, just let me know. I'll be right outside the courtroom unless I'm tracking someone down. I'll come in to let you know when they break for lunch."

"Thank you." Gillian watched as the woman left the room. _'This is going to be a long day.'_

An hour later, Judy pushed the witness room door open and told them the Judge had broken for lunch. The recess was until 2:00. Gillian saw people exiting the courtroom through both sets of double doors. She listened to the conversations and tried to hear any hint of how the case might be going. All the sudden she felt the hair on her neck rise. A voice she heard heightened her awareness. She got up quickly, startling the agents in the room with her. She went out the door into the crowd of people. She walked immediately out of the double doors into the hallway. She felt her heartbeat increase and realized she was having a panic reaction.

As soon as Gillian had jumped up and exited the room, her agents were on her. One of them said "Dr. Foster? Dr. Foster? We should probably wait until the courtroom clears to walk you out." By the time he got the sentence out, Gillian was all ready in the hallway. The agents pushed their way through the crowd to get to her.

Cal was just getting to the first set of double doors when he saw Gillian exit. He wasn't sure, but he thought he saw a flash of panic on her face. He pushed through the crowd to get to her.

Gillian stood just outside the doors in the hallway. She looked around trying to see if anyone was looking at her. She listened intently for the voice. She was concentrating so hard she didn't hear what the agent had said to her. When he came behind her and touched her arm, she flinched away. The agent took his hand away and quickly apologized for having startled her.

Cal got to her moments later. "What's wrong love?" He took her hand as she turned to face him.

Gillian thought for a second. _'What if I'm wrong? What if I heard the voice because I wanted to hear it? I don't want to panic anyone…' _ "I… it's…I don't…" She couldn't get words to form, probably because she wasn't sure what she wanted to say.

"Gillian?" Cal turned her to face him fully. "What is it, love? I can see panic on your face. Did you hear something?"

"Cal, I don't know, I'm not sure…" Gillian backed away slightly. She turned toward the courthouse doors and said "We should head to lunch. I only have 45 minutes until I need to be back."

"Gillian. If you heard something or even think you might have heard something, please tell me." He looked at her with questioning eyes. Gillian shook her head in doubt. "Please love. A 'maybe' is worth checkin out."

Gillian shook her head and looked down. "I don't know Cal. I thought I heard the voice for just a second when the door to the witness room was open. I couldn't even tell where it was coming from. I came out here as soon as I could and looked around… but, I didn't see anyone that looked suspicious and I didn't hear it again." She looked around and then looked at him again. "I don't know what I heard, Cal. I'm not sure."

"It's okay love. Stay right here with your agents and I'll go check with Reynolds. I'll be right back." Cal squeezed her hand and then walked away. Gillian moved toward the wall so she wasn't blocking the hall way.

Cal exited the courtroom with Loker, Torres, and Agent Reynolds. They all approached her. Ben was the first to speak. "I'm going to the security control room and have them download the video from this morning. I'll bring it back here. Who wants it?"

Cal spoke up. "Give it to Torres. Torres, go back to the office and watch every frame of that video. We'll be there as soon as they rest for the day."

Torres nodded in understanding. Cal took Gillian's arm led her toward the door of the courthouse. Gillian tried to protest. "Cal, maybe we should stay here. I don't want to miss anything."

"You stayin here would just be suspicious. Come on. We'll go the café on the corner. You don't have to eat a ton, but you do need something." Cal now put his arm around her waist and guided her insistently to the door.

Gillian ate very little, half a cup of soup and part of a small baguette. They walked back to the courthouse and went through security again. Gillian went into the witness room to meet with Eric Barnett. They spoke for a few minutes. Eric said everything was going well and asked if Gillian had any questions. She didn't. He went into the courtroom and she sat waiting to hear her name over the speaker.

When Gillian was called to the stand, she went into the courtroom and immediately looked for the familiar faces she knew she would see. Loker in the same spot he had been in. Cal was now sitting where Torres had been. Reynolds was still in the back of the room. Noah wasn't anywhere in the room. The rule on witnesses had him outside somewhere also. They had talked about the situation and Gillian knew he was going to keep his distance during the trial. They both decided it would be easier for both of them.

Eric asked Gillian to state her name and occupation for the jury. She then recounted the details of what had happened that day. She made eye contact with the jury as much as possible. She could see the sympathy on their faces. She also stole a few glances at Cal. She found it comforting when he gave the look that said she was doing fine.

Gillian managed to keep her emotions under control. It was difficult but she was proud she was able to hold it together. She then identified the suspect at the defense table as the man that had been in the deli that day. She did the identification by voice. Eric then had her briefly explain her ability to discern voices. He didn't have her go into too much detail as the jury would be instructed that Gillian's positive identification had been stipulated to by the defense.

The defense attorney realized the sympathy of the jury was firmly with Gillian. He didn't question her at all. The Judge allowed her to step down from the witness stand but asked that she remain available. He also reminded her she was still under oath and she was not to discuss the case or her testimony with anyone.

Gillian remained in the witness room until the Judge recessed for the day. Judy came in and told her she could go and that she didn't have to back until 11:00 the next day. Gillian listened intently once the door was open but she didn't hear the voice again. Cal met her outside the witness room and they headed toward the office. They both wanted to see what Torres found on the video.

**TBC **

**Hope all the legal mumbo jumbo wasn't too boring…**


	30. Chapter 30

**Wow. Chapter 30. If you are still hanging with me-God bless you. I've made you wait forever! Nothing too earth shattering in this one. But, it's moving us forward! I anticipate 4 to 5 more Chapters… Now, how soon I can get them done-well that's a whole other issue!**

**I wish I owned them… damn.**

It took Cal and Gillian almost 30 minutes to get to the office. The rush hour traffic was complete gridlock. Loker and Reynolds had arrived just before them. The team met in the lab. Torres had gone through the video and was ready to show them what she found.

They gathered around the large screen. Torres started the video. The first thing they saw was the doors to the Courthouse. "I watched every scene from every camera. I flagged anyone that fit the description of the suspect and compiled them all in this one video. I then grouped them together by whether or not they came into our Courtroom. I'll play those first since one of them is more likely to be the suspect." She let the video run for a few seconds. "Here is the first guy I found. Anybody recognize him?" No one spoke. Everyone was staring intently and shaking their heads in the negative.

"He isn't showing anything on his face. Nothing negative anyway" Loker observed. Cal nodded in agreement.

Reynolds suggested "if none of us knows the person let's put them aside. I'll work on getting those people identified."

Torres nodded and moved on to the next subject. As soon as she flashed him up on the screen Reynolds spoke up "that's one of ours. Jeff Whelan. He's been an agent for about 10 years."

"Nothing suspicious on his face. Is he a reputable agent?" Cal looked over at Reynolds.

"I'd vouch for him. Very "by the book" kind of guy. I would be shocked if he even drove over the speed limit."

Torres pulled up another subject. "Okay. Number 3. What about him?"

Gillian spoke up "I know him. He's a friend of yours, right Ben? He gave me the tickets to the Duke game."

"Yeah. That's Brian Gavin. Known him for years. He's been around here a few times. You would have picked up on his voice if he was involved, right?" Ben asked.

Gillian thought for a second "Yeah, I suppose I would have. Why is he at the trial? Is he involved somehow?"

Ben answered "No. Not directly. Because this case involves drugs heavily, the DEA sent someone to monitor the trial. He volunteered since he knew I would be there. Plus, I think he finds Gillian irresistible." Ben grinned and looked at Gillian. She rewarded him with a full blush.

Cal interrupted "Let's move on. No need to waste time on him then."

Loker and Torres shared a look. _'Jealous much?'_

Two hours later, they had gone through all the footage Torres had pulled for them. They eliminated the subjects they could. They closely watched the footage from the lunch recess. Several of the subjects had been near both sets of doors at the moment Gillian thought she had heard the voice. She couldn't tell where the voice had come from so they weren't able to narrow it down any further.

No one had stood out with contempt or any other emotion you would expect to see on a possible suspect. A lot of blank faces-those were mostly Law Enforcement-and a lot of disgust. It was aimed at the suspect. They saw a lot of that right after Gillian testified.

Reynolds took the video with the subjects they hadn't been able to identify and headed to his office to figure out who they were. Cal sent Loker and Torres home and reminded them to be at the Courthouse by 9 am. Gillian didn't have to be there until 11 am. But he wanted Loker and Torres to continue watching the room during the trial.

Cal left the lab in search of Gillian. She had left the room after they finished looking at the footage. As he came down the hallway toward her office he could see her through her glass door. She was facing the window. He could see she was on the phone. He waited until she took the phone away from her ear to approach the door. He knocked as he went in.

"You okay love?" He walked toward her desk as she turned to face him.

"I'm fine." She took a deep breath and put her hands flat on her desk. "I'm just really tired. I'm glad my testimony is over. I just spoke to Noah. He goes on first thing in the morning."

"You haven't been seeing much him with all this going on have you?" Cal sat down in one of the chairs in front of her desk.

"No. Except for seeing him today at the Courthouse, I hadn't laid eyes on him for almost two weeks." Gillian stopped talking and stared at her hands. After a few seconds, she looked up at Cal and smiled "but it's almost over and hopefully we'll have more time for each other."

Cal saw something in her face "what was that? Are things okay with you two?"

Gillian rolled her eyes and stood up. She looked straight at him and said "Yes. Things are okay. It's just been really hard with the trial and everything…" her voice faded out and her eyes drifted toward the floor.

Cal grabbed her coat from her coat rack. "Are you sure? Because your face is telling me you're worried about something." Cal stepped toward her and held out her coat.

Gillian slid her arms in one at a time, turning away from him as she did. "Cal…" she sighed. "It's nothing, I'm sure. I just… I don't know… I don't really want to talk about it. Okay? We haven't really seen each other much and I'm just being silly." She took a moment to compose herself and then she turned to face him. Mask in place.

Cal gave her a concerned look. "Okay. But, you know I'm here, right? I mean if you decide you do want to talk, yeah?" Cal was studying her face.

Gillian smiled at him. "Yes Cal, I know. And I love you for it." She stepped toward him and put her arms around his neck. "You've been so good to me through this whole thing. I wouldn't have made it without you." She squeezed him tight and said "Thank you."

Cal felt his stomach tighten when she said she loved him. He knew it wasn't in the context he wanted, but it was amazing to hear those words come out of her mouth. When she put her arms around him, he immediately hugged her back. He squeezed her tightly in return. When she pulled away from him, he smiled at her "let's get you home love."

**TBC**


	31. Chapter 31

**LONG chapter. This should be the last (completely) technical one! **

**No ownership… yada, yada, yada.**

The next morning, Gillian made her way into the office at 8am. She had stopped for coffee and had gotten Cal his favorite tea. She went into his office and left it on his desk. She made her way to her office and turned on her computer. She felt relieved to have her testimony over with. She still had to be at the trial in case she was needed for rebuttal, but the US Attorney said he doubted he would need to call her.

She worked on the payroll and finished a report. She glanced at the clock; 9:15. Noah would be on the stand now. She wished she could be there for that, but the defense had requested a rule on witnesses and the Judge had granted it. So, Noah hadn't been in the Courtroom when she testified and she couldn't be there to hear him testify either.

Gillian turned to stare out her window. God she couldn't wait for this trial to be over. She wanted to get back to some sense of normalcy. The second suspect still had not been identified, but he also hadn't made any attempts at contacting her recently. As safe as her FBI escorts made her feel, she would be glad to be rid of them. She hoped soon after the trial Cal and Ben would call the agents off.

Once the trial was over and the FBI agents shed, she hoped she and Noah could figure out where their relationship was headed or if it was headed anywhere. She had a nagging feeling before the trial preparation had pulled him away from her that things were changing. Deep in her heart she knew it had something to do with her ability to 'read' him. Even though she made a concerted effort not to study him, it was something she still wasn't willing to turn off. Guilt swept over her at that. Shouldn't she be able to trust him? Why couldn't she just let things happen? _'Alec.' _

Gillian had been so lost in thought that she didn't notice Cal amble into her office with his tea in hand. He walked in and sat in the chair in front of her desk. He saw her take a deep breath and close her eyes as she exhaled. "Gill?" She startled at his voice and turned toward him.

"Hey Cal. I see you found your tea." She smiled at him.

"Yes I did. Just got finished heatin' it up a bit. Thank you." He leaned forward in the chair and tilted his head a little, studying her. "Okay love?"

"Yes Cal. I'm fine." She glanced at the clock. "We should probably get going. Parking is never easy at the Courthouse." She stood and turned off her computer monitor.

Cal stood up. "I'll drive."

As soon as they cleared security at the Courthouse, Gillian went to the witness room. Cal went straight into the Courtroom. At 12:45, The Judge took a recess for lunch. Judy Hall came into the witness room and told Gillian to be back by 2:00.

"Mr. Barnett has one final witness to call. He needs you to be here in case he needs to call you after that. Once he rests the prosecution's case, the Defense will put on their case. Once they start you can leave if you like. They have three witnesses to call. It is possible they could get through all of them this afternoon. You'll need to be back here first thing in the morning in case Mr. Barnett needs to put you on for rebuttal. I'll meet you outside the Courtroom at 8:30. We'll know by then if you'll need to testify again. Do you have any questions?" Ms. Hall had gotten all that out very quickly and she seemed to be studying Gillian intently to be sure she had understood everything completely.

Gillian shook her head. "No. No questions at the moment." She looked to Cal who had walked into the small witness room right as Ms. Hall had begun talking. He gave her a nod indicating he had heard everything.

"Ok. I'll see you after lunch." Ms. Hall smiled and left the room.

"Let's go get some lunch love." Cal put his arm around Gillian as they exited the witness room and entered the hallway.

The prosecution did rest just after lunch. Cal and Gillian left the Courthouse and headed back to the office.

"Feel a little better now love?" Cal asked as they made their way into the building.

Gillian took a deep breath and let it out. "Yes. A little. I'll feel better after I know whether or not I'm needed in the morning."

"Fancy some dinner later?" Cal stopped at his office door and asked as she kept walking to her office.

Gillian stopped and thought for a second. "Can I get a rain check?" She asked as she turned around. "I'm just really tired. I want to go home, take a hot bath and get to bed early."

Cal smiled at her. "Sure. But I'm picking you up at 7:30 in the morning-no objections!" He pointed at her as he cut her off before she could object. He then turned and went into his office.

Gillian shook her head and smiled. _'I'm so lucky to have that man in my life.'_

When they arrived at the Courthouse the next morning, Judy Hall was waiting for them. "Mr. Barnett will be down to speak with you shortly. He'll explain everything."

A few minutes later, Eric Barnett appeared and led them into the witness room. "Okay. Here's where we stand. I won't need to call you back to the stand. The witnesses the defense put up were basically character witnesses and didn't challenge anything we put into evidence. What that means is they knew he would most likely be found guilty. They put these people on to attempt to make him appear more 'human' and dissuade the jury from convicting on the Capital Murder charge. In other words, they're hoping to avoid the death penalty." He paused for a second to let that soak in. "I think they felt the need to put something on after the jury's reactions to the store video and your testimony." He looked back and forth between Gillian and Cal. "They're worried."

Cal watched the emotions flicker across Gillian's face as the attorney spoke. He saw the relief as she heard she wouldn't have to testify again. He saw her tense up when Mr. Barnett implied that her testimony may be a factor in swaying the jury toward conviction for the Capital Murder charge. It was one thing to understand the charges and the consequences, but it was another to feel like you may have, in any way, contributed to someone being put to death.

Gillian nodded her head in understanding. "So, all that's left is closing arguments?" After Mr. Barnett nodded at her she asked "am I allowed back in for that?"

"Yes. You can come back in for those. I anticipate the jury will go out to deliberate well before lunch. It's Friday so, I doubt they will take very long. Guilt or innocence won't be at question here. Whether or not the death penalty is handed down will be what they're deciding."

Gillian sighed deeply and nodded her head. Just then the bailiff poked his head in the room "The Judge is ready to take the bench sir."

Mr. Barnett nodded his head and left for the Courtroom. Cal and Gillian followed.

Closing arguments and jury instructions took just over an hour. Just as the US Attorney had said, the defense concentrated their closing on sparing the defendants life and not arguing any of the facts of the case. The jury left to begin deliberations just before 10:30. Mr. Barnett said someone would call Gillian when they were notified that a verdict had been reached.

The whole group headed back to the office. It was obvious no one would get any work done today though. They had been involved in trials before, but none that were as personal as this one.

There was much conversation among the employees. Gillian closed her office door and pulled the blinds. She turned on her radio to muffle out any conversations. She knew everyone had their opinions on the death penalty and they were entitled to them. That didn't mean she needed to hear them. The charges and the consequences in this case had not been her doing. Those were decided by the suspect's actions and the US Attorneys decisions. She did what her civic duty required her to do. She testified truthfully. If that led to a man being put to death… well, it was what it was. It wasn't her fault. Right? She didn't force that man to go into that sandwich shop and murder two people.

'_But he spared me. He didn't kill me. Now my testimony may lead to his being put to death.' _Gillian looked down at her hands as she sat at her desk. _'But it wasn't him who spared me. It was the other guy. This guy wanted to shoot me-and for no reason. I did nothing wrong and nothing to provoke him.' _Oh the irony. The one that wanted her spared was also the one who had been tormenting her since this happened. _'Gillian. Jesus Christ. Just STOP thinking. You're not doing yourself any good.' _

The call from the US Attorney's office came just after 5:30. The whole group made their way to the Courthouse. They took up their usual spots to watch the Courtroom. Once everyone was settled, the bailiff announced the Judge and then led the jury back in.

The Lightman Group employees knew at once what the verdict was based on the facial expressions and body language of the jurors. Cal saw Gillian take a deep breath to steady herself. He could tell she was bracing for the verdict to be read out loud. She looked at the floor the whole time the Court clerk read the jury's findings. They convicted him on every charge, including the Capital Murder. The defendant's family members were outwardly emotional. The defendant stared at the ground. He then scanned the Courtroom as the deputies attempted to take him into custody.

Gillian looked over at the defendant at the same time he found her in the crowd. He glared and flashed anger first and then contempt. Cal saw Gillian's stunned reaction. He immediately reached for her hand and grabbed it tightly. This caused her to break contact with the defendant and look at Cal. He saw fear and sadness. She then shook her head and looked at the ground.

It took 30 minutes for the Courtroom to clear. The members of the Lightman Group stayed put and watched everyone as they left. They then met in the hallway with the US Attorney. He shook Gillian's hand and thanked her for her testimony. She smiled and nodded her head.

Noah Parker came out of the Courtroom. Cal looked at Gillian and without words told her he would wait by the door. She acknowledged him and then turned to Noah.

"It's over." She said as he reached for her hands.

"For now." They shared a knowing look between them. The second suspect was still out there somewhere. It wouldn't truly be over until he was caught as well. "I need to go upstairs and meet with the US Attorney. Then I need to secure all the evidence that wasn't kept by the Court." He pulled her to him and gave her a hug. "It could take a while. Can I call you in the morning? Maybe we could get together tomorrow?"

"Yes. I'd like that." Gillian smiled at him but couldn't shake the feeling that things didn't seem okay between them. He leaned down and planted a soft kiss on her cheek. They smiled at each other and then Noah walked away.

Cal had walked over to the remaining Lightman Group members. He sent Ben to gather up the video footage from the Courthouse and bring it back to the office. He instructed Torres and Loker to head back and start going through it. He saw Noah walk away from Gillian and walked back over to her. "Okay love?"

"I'm fine Cal. What's going on? Is everyone headed back to the office?" Gillian started walking toward the door.

"Yeah, but, I'll drop you off at home on my way back there."

"No Cal. I'm going back with you. My car is there and I want to see the footage too." She didn't look at him and continued her pace to leave the Courthouse.

Cal grasped her elbow and pulled her to a stop. "Gillian, we can do this. There is no need for you to be there. It's been a tough week. Go home. Take a bath, eat some pudding, read a trashy novel-"

"No Cal. I'm coming back with you." Gillian interrupted him. She turned to keep walking.

"Gill. Please, just let me take you home." He held her in place.

Gillian looked down at the floor. She took a deep breath to calm herself. "Cal. I know you think you are helping, but you aren't. I don't want to go home alone and stare at the wall tonight. I want to go back to the office and work on this with everyone else." _'Please don't leave me to my self-talk demons right now.' _

Cal squeezed her arm gently and gave her a nod. He wasn't sure what was going on in her head but he could tell she needed company and he was happy to oblige. "Okay love. To the office." They walked out together with his arm protectively around her.

**TBC**


	32. Chapter 32

**Thank you so much for sticking with me! I have SO enjoyed the ride with this. I have this fear as I get closer to the end that I will somehow disappoint you. I want everyone who has read this through to be happy to have taken the ride with me. I'm not trying to say that I want each of you to be happy with how anything turns out, just that I want you to be entertained and have the feeling that your time wasn't wasted on a lousy fic! I hope I'm able to accomplish that… **

**Same standard disclaimers apply… blah, blah, blah.**

Cal and Gillian were the last to arrive back at the office. They had stopped, at Cal's insistence, and picked up Thai food for everyone. Cal took the bags of food to the break room while Gillian headed to her office to shed her coat and purse.

Cal went into the lab and announced he had left food in the break room and told everyone to help themselves. He then headed to his office to shed his coat and to call and check on Emily.

Ben, Ria, and Eli all left the lab and headed to the break room. They each grabbed a plate and started in on the many containers. They spoke about the trial and how they weren't surprised the jury convicted on the Capital murder charge.

"I'm not surprised at all" Ben said as he reached in the refrigerator for a bottle of water. "If the video wasn't enough to convince them what a piece of crap that guy was, Gillian's testimony definitely got the job done."

"I can't imagine going through everything she's been through." Ria said while shaking her head. "I always knew she was tough, but my God. When she was testifying…"

"I know." Eli spoke up. "It was hard to hear everything. She did remarkably well at keeping herself composed when she was on the stand."

Ria nodded in agreement. "I don't think I could have done that."

Ben, once again, wasn't surprised. "She is extremely professional. I know this has been hard for her. And really, it isn't over yet. The other guy is still out there."

Ria and Eli both nodded in agreement. They didn't notice Gillian standing just outside the door. She had overheard them. She was glad they thought she had maintained her professionalism during her testimony. She thought about what Ben said. The other guy is still out there. She felt a shiver go up her spine. Suddenly she wasn't very hungry. Some fresh air to clear her head would be good. She stepped away from the door quietly and turned to walk down the hallway. She made her way out onto the balcony. She took a deep breath as she leaned against the short wall and closed her eyes. Her life had changed so much since that day in August.

Cal got off the phone with Emily and headed toward the break room. He glanced into Gillian's office and found it empty. He grabbed a plate of food and headed to the lab. He saw Ben, Eli, and Ria watching the courthouse video and eating. Cal realized Gillian wasn't there. "Where's Foster?"

Ria spoke up. "We haven't seen her."

'_That's odd. Where'd she go?' _Cal placed his plate on a desk and made his way back out of the lab. He had been concerned about Gillian since they left the Courthouse. He had tried to make small talk in the car but everything he tried to bring up she either said nothing or gave a short response. He had insisted on picking up food mainly because he knew she had hardly touched her lunch and he wanted to be sure she ate something.

Cal checked the break room first then her office, both were empty. He headed toward his office. He checked that and his study, no Gillian. He was about to barge into the ladies room when a thought occurred to him. _'She'd feel the need to clear her head.' _Cal headed for the balcony.

He stepped outside the door and was immediately chilled by the November air. He saw her leaning against the low wall staring straight into the distance. He could see she was deep in thought. She was acting as if she didn't feel the chill at all, which told him she was so lost in thought she was able to ignore the cold.

Cal approached her slowly but not quietly. He was hoping she would hear him and turn toward him. When he got close, he softly said "Gill?" He moved a little closer "Gillian?" No response. He reached and touched her shoulder and said her name again "Gillian?"

She drew in a deep breath but didn't startle. She blinked her eyes several times and then looked slowly at her shoulder where his hand rested. She then looked up at his face. "Hey." She immediately turned back toward where she had been looking.

"You all right, darling?" Cal scooted in closer to her until their shoulders touched.

She turned her head away from him and took a deep breath. She then shivered as if she had just realized how cold it was and wrapped her arms around herself to find warmth. "I'm fine Cal. I just thought I'd clear my head a bit."

'_Four for me!'_ Cal thought to himself. _'Scary how well we know each other.' _"When you weren't in the break room grabbing the mystery meat, I figured I might find you out here." He pushed against her shoulder slightly and gave her a smile. That gave him his desired result.

Gillian smiled and turned to look at him as she pushed back at his shoulder with her own. "You know Cal, we may just know each other _too_ well."

"Nah! Still plenty you don't know about me." He said as he waggled his eyebrows at her.

Gillian rolled her eyes and shook her head. "You're incorrigible Dr. Lightman."

"That's part of my irresistible charm Dr. Foster." He put his arm around her shoulders and turned them both toward the door. "Let's eat."

Gillian nodded her head and gave him a knowing smile. She was thankful he didn't push for any deep conversation.

Gillian had a rough night. She was expecting it. The verdict and the look the suspect gave her crept their way into her dreams and woke her several times. She gave up trying at 6:30. At least it was Saturday. She didn't have to worry about heading into the office. She got out of bed and made her way to the kitchen. She started some coffee and went to her front door to retrieve her morning paper. She turned off her house alarm and opened her door. She saw the FBI agents sitting in their vehicle. They gave her a wave. She waved and smiled at them. As much as she hated them tagging around after her, she had to admit she was glad they were there last night. She imagined in a very short time, if there were no other contacts by the other suspect, they would be removed.

She had hoped they would be able to find something on the video from the Courthouse to help them figure out who the second person was. They had seen nothing unusual. Several people left the Courtroom with pleased faces, mostly all the law enforcement officers and FBI agents. The family of the defendant was distraught. Gillian had excused herself from the room during that. She figured she didn't need that punishment.

It was disappointing and somewhat telling (although she hadn't figured out in what way) that the second suspect didn't show himself at the trial. _'Well if he did, he didn't make himself obvious.' _ This could only mean that he was incredibly smart and stayed away for fear of being discovered or he was really good and was able to go and blend in without giving himself away. Gillian was not comforted by either of those options.

She opened her paper as she headed back to the kitchen to get her coffee. She expected the story to be in the paper but she wasn't expecting it to be on the front page. _'Ugh. Must be a slow news day. Figures.'_ She fixed her coffee and headed to her couch. She got comfortable and opened to the story.

By 8:00, she had finished her second cup of coffee and read the newspaper front to back. The story about the case wasn't as bad as she had feared. The author concentrated on the facts for the most part and didn't attack the jury for handing down the death penalty. There was a small remark about the effect of her testimony on that decision, but it wasn't negative. If anything, this reporter seemed to favor the jury's decision and made the outcome more about the suspect's actions and his responsibility in getting what he got. This pleased her.

Gillian stood up and dropped the paper onto the coffee table. She headed to her room and took a long, hot shower. She was expecting Noah to call right after 9:00. He had this rule that he never called someone's house before 9:00 am unless it was an emergency. Something he had been doing for years. It was more a response to his job than real life. He said you'd always get better results from any phone conversation if you waited until a decent hour of the morning to call.

Just as she predicted, the phone rang at 9:02. She was smiling as she answered "Good morning."

"Well, good morning to you too." Noah said with surprise. "You knew it would be me?"

"Yes. It's 9:02. Plus the caller ID said it was you." She said with a giggle.

Noah was quiet for a second. "Can we get together? "

Gillian felt a stab in her stomach. He didn't sound happy to be seeing her. "Um, sure. Do you want me to come there or-"

"No. I'll come to you. I'm up and ready to go. I can be there in 30 minutes." Noah interrupted.

"Okay. I'll be here." Gillian said hesitantly.

"I'm walking out the door now. See you soon."

"Okay. See you soon." Gillian hung up the phone and felt a sadness seep into her. She had a feeling she knew what was coming. He had been pulling away for weeks. She hoped it was just the case, but she knew in her heart there was more to it than that.

**TBC**

**My goal was to have the talk between Noah and Gillian in this chapter. It felt like I left something out when I jumped straight to that. So, I came up with what you just read to, sort of, bridge things. The chapter was getting too long so I had to end it there. I will be honest and say I'm having trouble getting the talk the way I want it… I'm hoping by posting this bit it will help to motivate my brain into providing me with the words I'm looking for! **


	33. Chapter 33

**Well, here we are. Pivotal chapter in the story. This will make some of you giddy as hell! I'd say enjoy it-but it's not that kind of chapter really…**

After hanging up the phone, Gillian nervously paced around her apartment. She knew things had not felt right with Noah for some time. She knew it had something to do with her being able to read him. Noah always tried to be open with her because he knew she needed that. Gillian had been up front with him about how she had promised not to read Alec. She had made sure he understood she couldn't make that promise in another relationship. He had said he didn't mind; that he had nothing to hide. She still believed he had nothing to hide.

Gillian feared now he had changed his mind. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about that. In a way she felt guilty for practically demanding that she wouldn't "turn it off" or "look the other way." She knew she wanted to protect herself from the hurt she felt with Alec. But was that really fair to Noah? Was protecting herself more important than his comfort or his needs?

She tried to put herself in his shoes. He probably felt he could have no secrets. He probably worried about her noticing even the tiniest negative feeling. How hard did he fight when they were together to keep his face blank? To hide anything that he felt might upset her or make her suspicious? God. What an awful, paranoid place to be in. She found herself feeling bad for Noah and feeling resentful of this 'ability' she had acquired.

Gillian was broken from her thoughts by the knock at the door. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Then she walked over and opened the door.

Noah smiled at her and stepped inside. She could see how nervous he was. Her heart sank. He gave her a hug. It was a nice hug, but not like the hugs they had been sharing for the past few months. She hugged him back. When they separated, she shut the door and then followed him into the living room. He sat on a chair across from the couch.

'_Distancing. This isn't going to be good.' _Gillian pointed toward the kitchen. "Would you like something to drink?"

"No, thank you. I'm fine."

Gillian sat on the couch with her legs curled under her. Noah was studying his hands. Gillian took a steady breath and folded her hands in her lap.

Noah looked up at her. "How are you doing? I got the feeling the verdict was hard for you."

Gillian nodded her head. "It was difficult. But, I'm doing fine." She looked at him and waited for him to meet her eyes. "What about you? How are you doing?"

Noah smiled slightly. "I'm pretty thrilled with it. I think the jury got it right."

Gillian nodded again. "I was asking about you, personally. How are _you_ doing Noah?"

Noah looked at her sadly. "You know." _'You always know exactly how I'm feeling…'_

"Well, I know something isn't right. I know something is bothering you and I'm fairly certain it has everything to do with me." Gillian spoke softly. She was trying to make it easier on him. To open the door so he could say what she knew he was going to.

"Gillian. It's not you." Noah hesitated. He wasn't quite sure how to say what he needed to say. No amount of rehearsing had prepared him for how he would feel once he was standing in front of this beautiful woman. He looked down at his hands that he was wringing together nervously.

Gillian remained silent. She felt she should let him say what he needed to say without interruption.

"I'm a cop. We're supposed to be these big, bad, tough guys. Type 'A' personality, nothing ever gets to us. We see the worst of the worst every day and can go home to our families and act like everything is normal. We can put it away, just like that." He said this with a snap of his fingers. He sat there silently for a few moments. "That was how my life worked. I saw horrors every day and I could just compartmentalize them and shove them away when I left the City. My wife and kids, my non-cop friends, my family… they never knew the things I dealt with at work." He looked up at her then.

Gillian gave him a sad smile but said nothing. She could tell he had a lot to say and she planned on letting him get it all out.

"When my wife died…" he took a deep breath and looked back at his hands "I shut down everything. I stopped feeling. I didn't even realize it until you came along. Meeting you stirred something in me. It brought an empty place in me back to life. Because I realized I couldn't hide from you, that you would see what was there anyway, it caused me to open up. I wanted you to see me." He looked back up at her. "When I met you… everything changed. I felt different. Hell, I guess I should say I felt _period_."

Gillian could feel the tears prickling behind her eyes. He was baring his soul and it warmed and scared her at the same time.

"It was incredible, at first. To be with someone who was so in tune with me, someone who knew what I was thinking and feeling sometimes even before I knew myself. I felt like I had a dam in my heart and you broke through it and it was amazing." Noah was smiling.

Gillian smiled at him and then nodded at him letting him know he could continue. She could see the question in his eyes. He needed to know she was okay with what he was saying.

"I opened up to you so completely Gillian. It's changed me. I'm not going to say the change was bad because frankly, it wasn't. For me _personally_, it was very needed." Noah paused there. He wasn't sure how to explain what he needed to say next. "But for the tough guy, cop in me… it's not been helpful."

Gillian felt a twinge in her heart. "I think I understand what you're saying Noah. It was never my intention-"

"I know that Gillian." He interrupted her. "That's why I'm saying it isn't you." He shook his head and took a deep breath. He looked back down at his hands. "I've never wished harder in my life that I had taken the safe road; that I was a teacher or an accountant instead of a cop." Noah let go a deep, sad laugh. "I don't regret my career choice. I'm happy with what I do; the people I help."

Gillian was staring at the floor. She had lost the battle with the tears that had been burning in her eyes. She was trying as hard as she could to keep her emotions in check. She quickly wiped the stray tears away. She couldn't look at Noah now. She wouldn't make this harder for him.

Noah continued talking. "I have just under three years left until I can retire. Even then, Meredith will still have at least one year left in college. So, I'm actually looking at another four years on the job." He stood and walked toward her. He saw the tear streaks on her face. "I am so sorry Gillian. I don't want to hurt you. That's the last thing I want."

"It's okay Noah. It's okay." She took a deep breath and looked up at him. "I understand. I really do. I can only imagine how you must feel thinking that I can see everything and that you have no secrets…"

Noah knelt down in front of her. "No Gillian, it's not that, not really. I don't mind that you can _see_ _me. _I don't have anything to hide from you. I don't know how to explain this, I really don't." He took her hands in his.

Gillian stared at their hands linked together. She could feel the tears threatening again. She didn't know what to say so she said nothing.

Noah took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. "These past few weeks have made me realize how much I have changed. In my professional life, I was more focused than I have been in quite some time. I never realized how off my game I was getting. In my line of work, your sanity comes from the impeccable control you have over yourself and your emotions. Coping mechanisms like humor and sarcasm are a way of life." Noah paused and looked at her with sad eyes. "Being so open these past few months with you was the most freeing feeling. But, it has hurt my ability to feel nothing at my job. I can't feel the good without feeling the bad. It's a double edged sword."

Gillian had a stab of understanding. "Our being together has made it difficult for you at work?"

Noah nodded his head. "For lack of a better way to explain it, yes." He pushed himself off his knees and without letting go of her hands, sat beside her on the couch. "I hate it. But, it's the truth. I have to get through the next 4 years. I'm at the time in my career where veteran officers tend to get sloppy. They feel invincible because they have gone their whole careers without anything major happening to them." He looked at her and waited for her to meet his eyes. "My wife died three years ago. My children lost their mother. I won't do anything to jeopardize them losing the only parent they have left. I just can't."

"Oh Noah. I'm so sorry." Gillian was looking at him with her eyes wide. "I don't know what to say."

Noah shook his head. "Don't apologize, Gillian. You have been the best thing to happen to me in a very long time. You've taught me that I can live again, that I can be happy again. You brought me past that dead, empty place I was stuck in. I'll never be able to thank you enough for that." His eyes got teary. "I just hope you can forgive me for the decision I've made. Right now, I just can't stay in this relationship. It kills me to give it up, but I know I have to." He let go of one of her hands and wiped a tear that had escaped from his eye.

Gillian pulled her hand away from him. She needed distance. She could feel herself getting overwhelmed. She stood and walked away from him.

Noah stood but didn't follow her. "I need for you to be true to yourself. That means not changing for me. Not turning off who you are to make my life easier. I don't want you to wear blinders. You deserve a relationship where the person you are involved with can be an open book and doesn't need you to ignore things for them."

Gillian laughed a humorless laugh. "I know what you're saying Noah, but I don't believe such a person exists."

Noah came up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Yes, Gillian, they do. If it wasn't for my job-I would be that person."

Gillian pulled away from him. "But, you're not." She turned to face him. "I get it, Noah. I do." She smiled at him but it didn't reach her eyes.

Noah stepped toward her "Gillian…"

She held her hand up. "No. Don't. This is hard enough for both of us." She walked across the room and took a few moments to collect herself. She knew he was right in what he was doing. That didn't mean she was happy with it. She felt angry, but not at him, more at the situation.

"I'm sorry Gillian. I really am."

"You don't need to apologized Noah. It's not your fault any more than it is mine. It's just the way it is." She walked back over to him. She smiled, this time it reached her eyes. "You have been very good for me too. I couldn't have asked for a better man to cushion me back into single life. Thank you for being so understanding and supportive. For not pushing me into anything and letting me set the pace. I appreciate that more than you could know."

Noah went to hug her, but hesitated. "Is it okay if I hug you?"

Gillian opened her arms and sunk against him. She felt the familiar warmth and it brought another rush of emotion. A few tears escaped.

They pulled away from each other. Noah looked at her sadly. "Promise to call me if you ever need anything? I mean anything. I care about you so much Gillian."

Gillian nodded her head. "Only if you promise to do the same."

"I promise." Noah pulled her to him one last time and gave her a brief hug. He then turned and walked toward the door. He stopped before opening it and turned to look at her again. "Can we keep in touch, if that won't be too awkward for you?"

"Sure. I'd like that." Gillian smiled sadly as a few more tears escaped.

"Good." He opened the door and stepped out. Just before pulling the door closed he looked at her and said "this might be premature, but, I have to say it. I'm not asking you to wait for me, because I have no doubt men will be lining up at your door and some lucky bastard will snatch you right up. But-if I retire and you still happen to be available, I will relentlessly pursue you. Just so you know." He winked at her.

She smiled in return.

"Goodbye Gillian." He closed the door and walked away with his shoulders slumped and his head hung low.

Gillian didn't move. She just watched him walk away through the window. When she could no longer see him, she grabbed a pillow and sunk down on the couch. The sadness overcame her and she let the tears fall.

**TBC**

**I hope this wasn't too disjointed. I've never re-written something this many times in my life. Don't know that it came out 100% the way I wanted… but I needed to move on! **


	34. Chapter 34

**I know it has taken forever for me to update. I'm sorry. Didn't have much inspiration, but then I got my #teamkelli 'welcome' letter… and I suddenly felt inspired! If you are a Kelli Williams fan and you haven't checked out you really should!**

**Lie to Me* is still not mine, or we would have all ready heard about the show getting a fourth season! *Keeping my fingers crossed* Come on FOX-do the right thing!**

Gillian spent the rest of the weekend trying to clear the emotions from her soul. She cried, she drank, she watched sad movies, and she drank some more. Saturday night she took a long, hot bath while drinking a bottle of wine. She spent the day Sunday trying to replace the sadness of Saturday with anything she could find that was remotely positive. She went for a run, watched a funny movie, and baked a chocolate cake and several dozen chocolate chip cookies. She took another long, hot bath; this time with smooth jazz music playing, and no wine. Before she went to bed, she packaged up the chocolate chip cookies so she could take them to the office the next day.

On Monday morning Gillian arrived at the office earlier than usual. She made her way into the break room and left the boxes of cookies on the counter with a note for everyone to help themselves. She went to her office and just as she was going to hang up her coat, realized she really wanted a cup of Starbucks coffee. _'Pumpkin Spice latte. That's what I need.' _She picked up her purse and headed back out toward the lobby. She saw Heidi at the reception desk. "I'm heading to Starbucks would you like me to get you anything?"

"No thank you Dr. Foster. I grabbed a cup at home this morning." Heidi was busy going through the outgoing mail, checking everything for the proper postage. Just as Gillian turned the corner she yelled "Oh, Dr. Foster!"

Gillian paused and stepped back around the corner. "Yes?"

"Thanks for the chocolate chip cookies! They're the best!" Heidi was holding one up as she spoke. She smiled and took a bite.

Gillian smiled. "You're welcome Heidi." She then continued on her way.

Cal arrived earlier than usual for a Monday morning. He hadn't spoken with Gillian all weekend and he was anxious to make sure she was okay after the previous week's trial. He thought about calling her several times, but he knew she was supposed to be seeing Noah and he didn't want to interrupt anything. She had hardly seen Noah at all lately and he knew she had been looking forward to them getting together.

As Cal rounded the corner at the reception desk he got a whiff of something sweet. Heidi was at the desk. "Good morning Heidi. What's that sickly sweet smell?" Cal asked as he grinned at her.

Heidi held up a finger to indicate her mouth was full. She finished chewing. "Dr. Foster made cookies! They're in the break room. You should get some before everyone realizes it and they all disappear."

"Ah okay. Thanks Heidi." Cal headed toward the break room. He was immediately concerned when he saw the amount of cookies on the counter. Gillian often made treats for the employees, but whenever it was to this magnitude, it meant she was stressed about something. He grabbed a few of the cookies and walked toward Gillian's office. Her lights were on but she wasn't around and her coat wasn't hanging on the rack. On his way back to his office he asked Heidi where Gillian was and was told she had gone to get coffee. Cal headed into his office.

Gillian got a Pumpkin Spice latte and a cup of tea for Cal. She walked slowly back up the street. It was cold outside and instead of steeling herself against the cold, she let the chill penetrate. She remembered when she was a child she would stand outside at those times when things were going badly in her house and let the cold 'get' her. It pushed its way through and she accepted it, allowed it to numb her, to free her from all the things that had troubled her lately. The attack, the aftermath, Noah… She shook her head and took a deep, chilling breath of the cold air.

As Gillian entered the building she felt somewhat clear headed. Amazing what a few minutes in the cold could do for you. She made her way to Cal's office to deliver his tea. She could smell the chocolate chip cookies and it made her smile. Cal looked up as she approached his desk. He stood to meet her and get his tea. "Ah, thank you love."

"You're welcome." Gillian handed him his cup.

"Well, you look cheerful this morning. Could it have something to do with the sugar coma you have planned for our employees today?" Cal grinned at her.

"Cal! There is absolutely nothing wrong with chocolate chip cookies!" She noticed the cookies he had on his desk. "I see you aren't having any trouble downing a few."

"Oh, I definitely wouldn't pass up your cookies love." He reached down and brought another cookie to his lips. "So, what's up then?"

Gillian looked at him with confusion. "I don't know… what do you mean?"

"The last time you made this many chocolate chip cookies you-" Cal was interrupted by Gillian.

"Can't a girl just make cookies because she wants to?" Gillian turned to leave. "Don't eat too many. I don't want Emily upset with me later because you're bouncing off the walls and making her crazy." She finished right as she reached his office door. Before he could respond, she was gone.

Cal had gone out with Torres that afternoon. By the time they got back, it was almost 9:00 and Gillian was gone. He would have to wait until the next day to find out what was going on with her.

Tuesday morning, Cal was at the office early once again. Gillian had pulled into the garage just in front of him. She went inside and he walked up the street to get her a cup of coffee. As he entered the building, she was approaching the door. "Good morning love." Cal smiled at her and handed her the cup he had gotten for her. "Pumpkin Spice latte." He saw disappointment flash ever so briefly across her face. She covered it quickly and smiled.

"Thank you Cal. I was just going to head out for that." She took the cup from him and took a sip. "Mmmm. I love this time of year." _'How thoughtful of him, but now I'll miss my dose of cold air.'_

Cal was about to say something witty about her love for the Holidays when Heidi interrupted. "Dr. Lightman?" Cal turned to answer her and Gillian turned to head toward her office.

"Yes Heidi?" Cal was not pleased with the interruption. He was leading up to asking Gillian what her plans were for Thanksgiving. He was wondering if she would be spending the Holiday with the good detective…

"Agent Reynolds is on the line. He said it's important." Heidi gave him an apologetic look.

"I'll get it in my office."

Cal had headed out to help the FBI shortly after getting off the phone with Agent Reynolds. He returned to the office at 6:30. He was shocked to see Gillian's car still in the garage. She hadn't stayed much past 5:00 since she and the good detective had become a couple.

Cal entered the building to find nearly everyone gone. A few of the lab workers were closing things down, but no one else was around. He headed toward Gillian's office. He could see her in her chair with one leg curled beneath her. She seemed to be lost in the file she had in front of her. He watched her briefly and then approached her door. She glanced up at him as he pushed her door open. "Hey. How'd it go?"

Cal slinked over to a chair in front of her desk and slouched down into it. "They got the right guy. Just didn't quite know how to get what they needed from him."

Gillian smiled. "I guess you got them what they needed by the look on your face."

"Yes. I did." Cal snickered. He loved when the FBI had to rely on him for the big closures. "How were things around here?"

"Uneventful. Loker and Torres finished up the Broward case and presented the report to him today. He seemed very pleased and commented that he would be sure and recommend us to his business associates in the future." Gillian had a pleased look on her face.

"Ah, wonderful." Cal sat quiet for a moment. "You're here late. The good detective working tonight?"

Gillian flinched at the remark. She tried to cover it, but realized Cal had picked up on it as soon as she looked up at him. "Cal…"

"Everything all right, love?" Cal gave her a concerned look. "I won't push Gill. I had the feeling yesterday that something wasn't right. No need to talk about it, unless you want to."

Gillian closed her eyes and put her head down. "Thanks. I don't really want to talk about it…" She closed the file on her desk and slowly lifted herself up to remove her foot from underneath her. It immediately started prickling. "Ahhhhh! My leg is asleep." She rose tenderly and moved her leg slowly to get her blood flowing normally again.

Cal chuckled at her. He stood up. "Need some help darling?"

Gillian gave him a pointed glance and rolled her eyes. "No. I'm fine. Just need to move slowly for a bit."

"You eaten yet? I haven't had a thing all day and I'm positively famished." Cal looked at her hopefully.

"No. As a matter of fact I haven't. What were you thinking?" Gillian slid her shoes on and made her way to her coat.

"Italian? Thai? Chinese? At this point I'm too hungry to care!" Cal helped her with her coat and they headed out the door.

"What about Emily?" Gillian asked.

"She's with her mom until after the Holiday. They leave for Zoe's parents tomorrow as soon as she gets out of school. So, I'm on my own." Cal put his arm around her shoulders and led her toward the door.

Cal and Gillian ended up going with Italian, since it was the closest to the office. The dinner was wonderful and Gillian was glad he had come back before she left. The conversation stayed on business or Emily for most of the meal. Gillian was impressed that Cal had managed to let her off so easily and not push the Noah issue. As she was finishing dessert and Cal was nursing his cup of coffee, Gillian decided to share what had happened.

She pushed the cake around on her plate. "Cal?"

"Yes love?" He realized she was contemplating sharing with him. He could see that she had been shoving the cake around on her plate-not something Gillian would ever do!

"Noah and I aren't together anymore. I really don't want to talk about it, at least not right now. I just wanted you to know." She waited a few seconds before she looked up at him. His face was blank. His expression softened a little and he tilted his head at her.

Cal thought he would explode when the words left her mouth. It took everything for him not break out into a big grin. He schooled his features and was blank by the time she looked up at him. He gave her a sad look. "I'm sorry love. I'm glad you told me. I'm here if you want to talk about it. Okay?" He reached across the table and took her hand.

Gillian squeezed his hand in return and gave him a sad smile.

Cal thought for a second. "So, do you not have plans for Thanksgiving then?"

"Actually, I don't. Well I did, but obviously they've changed." Gillian shook her head and looked down at the table.

"Well. How about you join me and we'll celebrate the Holiday together?" Cal smiled at her and squeezed her hand again.

She smiled at him in return. "I would love to."

**TBC**

**I will not be doing a Thanksgiving chapter. There are too many really good fics that have covered fun Cal/Gill Holidays. I'll be mentioning it, but not focusing…**

**Sorry if this chapter was lacking in action. I needed it to open some doors with Cal and Gillian.**


	35. Chapter 35

**Surprisingly, I have not lost the will to finish this story in light of FOX being a bunch of idiots and cancelling this awesome show. At first I was angry and thought I couldn't do it. But, I really want to see this through…**

**Screw you FOX. Lie to Me will live on in Fan Fiction!**

Thanksgiving had been a blessing for both Cal and Gillian. They spent the day cooking, laughing and bantering. Emily had called and was most pleased at the company her father was keeping for the Holiday. Cal wasn't able to explain what had transpired between Gillian and Noah since Gillian was standing right there, but Emily had been excited to hear when she returned from the weekend with her mother.

"I told you Dad! He was the rebound!" Emily remarked as she put away dishes in the kitchen. "Don't let her get away this time."

"Em!" Cal sat at the table with his laptop open. He turned toward her. "And just how do I go about not being the rebound from her rebound? Answer me that one, Oprah!" He turned back toward the table.

Emily walked over and sat in the chair next to him. "Dad. There is only one rebound. She put her heart out there and it got broken. She's gonna be gun shy for a bit, which gives you the upper hand because you guys are best friends. You can maintain closeness because there is already so much trust between you."

Cal thought for a second. "That seems a little bit shady. I don't want to use some sort of trickery to get her."

"You're not Dad. I've seen you two together. You love each other. You respect each other. You care for each other. You're pretty much a couple; you're just not sleeping together yet."

"Oi! That's enough!" Cal stood up and closed his laptop. "No more relationship talk from you young lady!"

Emily jumped up and grabbed him in a big hug. "Fine. I'll stay out of it, for now. But please Dad, don't let her get away again."

Cal returned his daughter's hug. "I don't plan to love."

KNOW

Gillian had been without Noah for three weeks now. She was gradually adjusting to single life. She was enjoying her job (maybe a little too much as she hadn't gone home on time yet). She and Cal were tossing around book ideas. He had come up with the idea that they should work on a book together. Nothing had been put in stone but throwing the ideas around gave them a creative outlet. Gillian enjoyed the time they spent together. She'd forgotten how much she loved spending time with her best friend. Her life had been quite a mess since the attack. In fact, if she was honest with herself, her life had been a mess for much longer than that. The split from Alec had been after a tumultuous year of emotional, drug induced roller coaster rides of her ex-husbands doing. Even before that, losing Sophie… _'Jesus Gillian. Get off the pity train. So your life hasn't been a bed of roses. It hasn't been all thorns either.'_

She was sitting at her desk with her nose buried in the payroll when there was a tap at her door. She looked up to find Ben standing there.

She smiled at him and motioned him in. "Hey Ben. What can I do for you?"

"Hey Gillian. I just stopped in to say hello." Ben seemed fidgety and nervous. "I keep getting stuck with Lightman on every case lately and I hadn't seen you in a while."

Gillian stood and walked around her desk. "Okay. I'm always glad to see you." She leaned against her desk and folded her arms in front of her. "But, tell me why you're really here." She couldn't control the huge smile that spread across her face.

Ben hung his head. "I'm sorry Gillian. I really am glad to see you though." He looked back up at her with a sheepish smile.

"Well, you are being honest when you say that. But what else did you want Agent Reynolds?" She was still smiling at him.

Ben took a deep breath. "I'm just gonna come right out with it. Remember my friend that gave you the Duke game tickets a few months ago?"

"Yes…" Gillian tilted her head to the side and studied his face.

"Well, you see..." Ben shuffled his feet and looked up at her. "Word has gotten out that you are no longer seeing anyone and Agent Gavin has been sweet on you for a long time-"

Gillian looked surprised. "A long time?"

"He and I have worked together for a while. He was around here, occasionally, back when you were still married to Alec. He made a remark then about how you were the 'whole package' and he hoped your husband realized how lucky he was."

Gillian couldn't help the smirk that escaped. "Well, we all saw how that turned out."

Ben looked at her apologetically. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean-"

"It's okay Ben." She gave him a smile to let him know she wasn't upset about the Alec comment.

He took another deep breath. "Anyway, Brian wanted me to mention to you that he had tickets to another game and he was wondering if you would like to go with him." Ben saw the look on her face and said. "I can just tell him no, Gillian. No pressure. I just promised him I'd ask."

Cal came bursting through the door and caught the tail end of what Ben had said. "Promised who that you'd ask what?"

Ben looked nervous and stammered a bit trying to get the words out. "Uh… I uh… I was just telling Gillian here that…"

"Well come on then, Agent Reynolds. Out with it!" Cal stepped between Ben and Gillian, a move that did not go unnoticed by her.

Gillian rolled her eyes. "Cal…" She addressed him in the 'stop pushing this' voice she tended to use when he was getting carried away with himself.

Cal turned toward Gillian putting his back to Ben. "What love? It was a simple question!"

Ben gave Gillian a 'save me now' look, and she smiled. "Ben, I'll think about that and get back to you. Okay?"

Ben took this opportunity to make a hasty exit. "That'd be great. Good seeing you!"

Cal turned to see Ben hastily exiting Gillian's office. He turned back to Gillian. "So, what was that about?"

Gillian made her way back to her desk chair and sat with her arms folded. She gave a glance to the camera in the corner of her office and noticed the red light was on. She looked back at him, annoyed. "As if you didn't know."

"What, me? I'm sure I don't know what you mean." He backed away and sat in the chair in front of her desk.

"What did you need Cal? Surely you have a good reason for barging in here when you did." Gillian was studying his face.

"I sure do." Cal shifted in the chair. "I was looking for the Broward file."

"Why did you need the Broward file?" Gillian eyed him suspiciously. _'That case was closed last month. Get out of this one Cal.'_

"I just wanted to check the progress of our worker bees. You know, it's important to have happy clients." Cal smiled. He was very happy with himself for covering so well.

"Yes it very important to have happy clients. Mr. Broward was very happy at the **conclusion **of his case when the worker bees gave him their report." Gillian was smiling now. _'Gotcha.'_

"Oh." Cal jumped up. "So that one was settled was it?" He walked around her desk and stood very close to her. _'Walked into that one. Damnit.'_

"Yes. I told you about it the night we went out for Italian right before Thanksgiving." She stood and looked right at him. "Remember?"

"Oh, yes. Right, well you did, didn't you?" Cal folded his arms and rested one hand on his chin.

"Okay Cal. Enough deflecting. Just say what you have to say. I have the payroll to get through." Gillian placed her hands on her hips and cocked her head at him.

"Right, well…" Cal gestured with his hand briefly and then put it back on his chin. "I worry love." He had a flash of jealousy before he could mask it. His face then showed concern and love.

Gillian saw something just for a second and then she saw genuine concern and then she saw love. _'Love?'_ She was immediately surprised and then she was sure she flashed fear. She quickly schooled her features. "Worry about what Cal? Ben was just saying that his Agent friend had tickets to a ball game and wondered if I would be interested in going with him."

Cal gave her an exasperated look. While he wasn't ready to show her everything, he had just shown her love-albeit briefly. He knew she saw it, she was surprised. And then he saw fear. _'Now what genius?' _"Oh. Do you want to go to the ball game with that bloke?"

"Well, I don't know." Gillian felt uncomfortable now. She wasn't sure if he meant to show her what she saw and she definitely didn't know if she should call him on it. She sat down in her chair. "But, I do think I should handle making the decision myself." She looked up at him. Something was different. "Unless there's something you think I should know that might affect my decision…"

"No, no, I don't know anything, I just, I want you to be careful is all." Cal said this while he was backing toward her door. He felt like he needed to get out of there. He should have thought this through instead of barging into her office with no plan. Right as he reached the door he pointed at her "we'll talk later yeah?" Before she could answer, he was off down the hallway.

KNOW

A week went by and neither Cal nor Gillian had mentioned the awkward conversation they had in her office. Cal felt for sure he had blown things. He wasn't sure what to do next. He knew she saw the love on his face. She had been surprised. But then she flashed fear. Fear of what? Of him? Of his feelings? Of her feelings? He knew they couldn't go on avoiding the issue forever, as much as both of them might like to. He was afraid too. But he knew what he was afraid of; that she didn't feel the same way about him. He knew she loved him but maybe she didn't love him quite the way he loved her. What Cal couldn't pinpoint was what Gillian was afraid of…

Gillian knew they had to discuss what had transpired in that awkward conversation. She knew she saw love on Cal's face, much like she had seen when she was staying at his house and he was helping to take care of her. She had tried to talk herself into not seeing it then or at least attributing it to the deep affection they had toward each other and nothing else. This time it had come on his face when he was in a completely different mindset. _'Was he jealous?'_ He **was** jealous. He had heard Ben talking about her possibly spending time with someone else and he had felt the need to come and squash the possibility.

Gillian had a sudden realization. He had loved her for some time; she had just never allowed herself to believe he could love her that way. It all made sense now though. The looks of love she had seen after the attack, how he acted the night he found about her first dinner date with Noah, and the reaction to her weekend with Noah. She shook her head as she thought about the conversation she had with Emily before that weekend. How she said her Dad was depressed. Gillian approached him about that the next day. She told him she would stay and not go away for the weekend, but he had encouraged her to go. He had looked so sad then, but he hadn't stopped her from going. He knew she had feelings for Noah and he didn't want to stand in the way of her being happy. _'Damn you Cal. Why be the martyr?' _

Gillian did have feelings for Noah. And it hurt like hell when he broke it off. But deep inside she knew something wasn't right. She had just hoped they could work through it. At the time, she thought she would never be able to have anything with Cal. She thought she wasn't dangerous or sexy enough to satisfy his bad boy ways.

How could she tell Cal she had been attracted to him for years? She never acknowledged it because of the situation they were in. They had both been married at first. They had constructed this line between them. She thought it had been the best way to preserve their respective marriages and keep the business going steady. So many times he had attempted to cross that line and she had reminded him of it and why it was there. She had allowed him some wiggle room in the months after Alec had left the picture. She and Cal had gotten closer. They had confided in each other more and shared more than they ever had…

Gillian remembered she had shown him fear after she had seen the love on his face. Oh my God. _'All this time I kept thinking there was no way I could be what he wanted. But really he was afraid he would ruin me; that he wasn't good enough for me. Oh Cal, how do I fix this?'_

**TBC**

**Hopefully there weren't too many errors. I was very anxious to get this posted and probably didn't proof it as well as I could have. Another build up chap for Cal and Gillian… I'm thinking 2 to 3 more chapters. That is unless I get sidetracked with the Cal and Gillian goodness and string it out a little more. Opinions on this?**


	36. Chapter 36

**Lie to Me Lives! And we can keep it going forever in fan fiction as long as we have writers willing to take these characters forward… This is a simple, fluffy chapter. You have been warned.**

Gillian had taken the next few days to think about what her next step would be. She and Cal had really seen very little of each other during this last week. Gillian knew if a next step was going to be taken it would be up to her. Cal had shown her love and her initial reaction had been fear. If she knew Cal-and she did-he wouldn't take the chance that she may reject him. She was fairly certain he had no idea what the fear was about and he would automatically think she was afraid of a relationship with him.

Cal was no closer to knowing what Gillian was afraid of. He wanted to believe it wasn't him. He wanted to believe it was a fear of getting her heart broken again. How could he possibly promise her that wouldn't happen? He knew he had hurt her before with some of the stupid stunts he pulled. He knew he had hurt her by pushing her away when he feared she was getting too close. How was he to rectify this now? How could he show her that he would never intentionally hurt her? He needed to do something. He couldn't let the woman he loved, more truly than any other he had ever known, get away from him again.

The Christmas party was two days away. Gillian had been decorating the office with the help of Heidi. Cal was making himself scarce; continuing to let everyone believe how much he hated the festivities. Deep in his heart, Cal held memories of Christmas that were very dear to him. His mother had been obsessive about the Holidays before she had become so debilitated by depression. In truth, he loved the fuss over Christmas. He loved to watch Gillian in her element with the decorations and the party planning and the baking and the gifts. It gave him a warm feeling inside.

Gillian had been decorating the office when Emily showed up. Everyone else had gone home. Emily couldn't help but notice how distracted Gillian seemed. She was usually so happy about Christmas. Every year for as long as she could remember, Emily had come to the office to help Gillian decorate on the Wednesday before the big Christmas party. There had only been one other time when she had seen Gillian looking this somber. That was the Christmas after she had lost Sophie. Emily remembered how sad Gillian was and how she had gotten herself tangled in the lights after turning the music up loud. She thought Gillian would be angry with her but instead she came over and laughed at Emily as she turned her in circles untangling her. Once Gillian had freed Emily from the lights, they had shared hot cocoa and cookies and finished the tree. Emily had realized then how much she loved Gillian.

Emily watched Gillian for a few moments and then went to find the old CD player. She plugged it in and turned it up just as loud as she had it that Christmas years ago. Gillian jumped when the music blasted but relaxed and smiled as soon as she saw Emily.

"Hi Emily!" Gillian stood and wrapped Emily in a big hug. "I was wondering if you were going to come help me this year."

Emily squeezed Gillian tightly. "I wouldn't miss it! It's tradition!" They pulled apart. Emily surveyed the mess of decorations on the floor. "Wow. How did they get so messed up? I don't think I've ever seen them in such bad shape."

Gillian put her hands on her hips. "I know. I didn't put them away last year." She took a deep breath. "I won't make that mistake again!"

The two sat on the floor and began untangling lights and ornaments. Their conversation was easy and light. Emily wanted to ask what was troubling Gillian but she didn't want to be pushy. After a bit, Gillian became quiet. Emily took the opportunity to ask "Are you okay Gillian?"

Gillian looked up at her. "Yes, Emily. I'm fine." She looked back down at what she was doing. "Why do you ask?"

"You just seem a little distracted." Emily was still and kept her eyes on Gillian.

Gillian smiled and looked up at Emily. "You are your father's daughter."

"Yes, I am. And that was a nice deflection." It was Emily's turn to smile.

"Emily…" Gillian stopped and took a deep breath. "It's nothing. I just have a lot on my mind." She paused for a second. "This has been quite a hectic year for me."

"Yeah. I guess it has been." Emily reached over and grasped Gillian's wrist. "You know my dad and I are here for you, right?"

Gillian stared at the teenager's hand on her wrist. She looked up and smiled. "Yes. I do. And I appreciate it more than you know." Gillian looked back at the mess on the floor. "Now. Let's get back to work! This tree isn't going to decorate itself!"

Late in the evening, Cal and Torres returned to the office to hear Christmas music blaring and female voices laughing. Torres immediately made excuses to leave for the day. She had no desire to deal with a Holiday irritated Cal Lightman. After she grabbed her things and left, Cal wondered through the building toward the music and the laughter.

As he rounded the corner, he saw Gillian and Emily laughing and singing and stringing lights on the Christmas tree. He stood in the shadows and watched them. It made his heart feel light to see the two of them together. He could see the love in their eyes. He watched them for several minutes before Gillian happened to glance over and see him standing there.

"Hey Cal!" She motioned him over with her arm. "Get over here and help us out! We could use it. These decorations were a mess. Another set of hands might mean we won't be here all night!"

Cal joined them. The three of them laughed and sang and decorated. Cal was amazed at how he felt; how being with the two people he loved most in the world could fill him with so much happiness. Around 10:30, Emily yawned. "I should really head home. Can you guys finish up without me?"

Gillian looked toward the clock. "Oh my goodness it's gotten late. You guys both go, I'll finish up."

Emily looked at Cal with wide eyes and shook her head. She then nodded toward Gillian. "No that's okay. I can get home fine. Dad can stay and help you."

Cal spoke up. "Yeah love, I'll stay. Let me just walk Em out to the car and make sure she gets off ok."

KNOW KNOW KNOW KNOW

Cal and Emily left the office and walked into the parking garage. "Dad. Gillian was sad earlier when I got here. She was saying that she had a hard year and that she had a lot on her mind. What's she doing for Christmas? You should invite her over. You know I'll be at moms until the day after Christmas. It would be a perfect time for you to tell her how you feel about her-"

Cal had tried several times to interrupt her and finally just cut her off "Em!" He stopped and looked at her. "Take a breath love."

"Dad. I'm just saying to ask. No one should be sad or alone over the Holidays. Gillian doesn't have anyone here now and I haven't heard that she is planning to go to see her family, have you?"

"No, I haven't. Look Em, you need to back off love. I know you mean well but Gill and I… we have some things to work out… and…"

"I understand Dad. Please just don't let her get away, okay?" Emily stared at him with her big brown eyes.

"I'm not planning to love." He hugged her. "Now, get on home. Text when you're safe and sound in the house okay?"

KNOW KNOW KNOW KNOW

Cal returned to Gillian to find that she had turned off the music. "No more fairy music love?"

Gillian smiled. "I think my ears have had enough for tonight."

Cal walked up and stood beside her. He took a moment to study her. He could see a slight sadness in her eyes. She looked up and caught him staring.

"Hey, stop that." She gave him a stern look.

"Sorry. Emily was right." Cal gave her a sad look.

Gillian gave him a sideways glance. "About what?"

"You look a little sad tonight." Cal put his hand on her shoulder.

"She said that?" Gillian looked at him with wide eyes. "I'm not sad Cal. I'm fine. Maybe a little tired…"

"Well now that's a lie. I mean about not being a little sad, it's obvious you're tired." He pulled her around to face him and studied her face.

Gillian allowed him to look at her. She softened her look and opened her face to him. "What are we doing Cal?" She let him see hope in her eyes.

Cal wasn't sure what he was seeing or where she was going. "What do you, I mean what are you… asking…"

Gillian looked at his face. She let the love she felt for him show. She couldn't hold it back anymore. This evening with him and Emily had felt so right. It felt like family, it felt like home. She didn't want to let the feeling go. "You know what I mean Cal. I don't think I can keep ignoring the sparks I see flying around the room." She leaned in toward him and took his hands in hers. _'It's now or never. This could go very wrong or it could go very right. Please let it go right…'_

Cal could see everything on her face. He kept waiting for her to pull away, to make a joke and blow it off. But she didn't. She leaned in and touched her lips softly to his. Not a chaste kiss like they had shared several times before but a serious, lingering kiss. Her lips were so soft and he felt his lips opening up to her. The kiss got a little deeper. Cal put his hands on her waist and Gillian's arms made their way around his neck. A few moments later they slowly pulled apart. Gillian was looking down. Cal put his finger under her chin and tilted her face up to meet his gaze. His eyes were questioning.

Gillian smiled sweetly. "I'm not afraid Cal. Are you?"

"Not at all darling. Not for one second."

**TBC**

**Not what I had in mind for this chapter… but I wanted to post something today. More action in the next chapter. There are still several things left unsolved…**


	37. Chapter 37

**And here we are… The chapter that all you Cal/Gill fans have been waiting patiently for. (That I have kept you waiting for… sorry!) Keep in mind, this story took place after season one. Season two and beyond never happened for the purposes of this fic! I hope you enjoy it and I hope I don't have them too much out of character.**

Cal had come home Wednesday night to find Emily's bedroom light still on. As soon as he had gotten through the door, she came scrambling down the stairs.

"Dad! What are you doing home so soon? What happened with Gillian?" She was staring at him with the most accusatory look on her face.

"Em! What are you still doing up?" He glanced at her and then pushed past her to head up the stairs.

Emily went to grab for him but he was too quick. She ran up the stairs after him. "I couldn't sleep. So tell me what happened!"

Cal shrugged his shoulders and said "What do you mean? Nothing happened."

She had yet to get a good look at his face, but she knew by the shrug of his shoulders that he was lying. Her dad never let anything that simple bleed through so he must have wanted her to see it. "You did it! You did it, didn't you? You told her, right?" Emily was walking from side to side, trying to get around him to see his face.

Cal couldn't hold it in any longer. He turned to her with a big smile. "Not exactly, well not with words anyway. We talked for a bit and decided that we could try with a relationship, but there were no declarations of love made." Cal stopped and stared at the ceiling for a moment. "Implied, yes. Declared, no."

Emily jumped up and threw her arms around his neck. "I'm so happy for you, Dad! So what happened, what was said, why did you come home?"

"Easy Em! We know what we both want. We're gonna talk about it after the party on Friday."

Emily thought for a second. "Did you kiss her?"

Cal rolled his eyes. "Good God Em!"

"You did! Yes!" Emily clapped her hands and smiled like a child. "I am so happy right now!" She grabbed her Dad in another big hug. "You did good Dad. Now, on Friday-"

"Emily! Enough! Off to bed with you." Cal turned her by the shoulders and shoved her toward the door. "Now! Get!" He pointed to her room.

Emily smiled at him again. "I love you Dad."

"Love you too Em. Good night."

* * *

Everything was set for the Christmas party. It was 5:30 and Gillian was heading home to change into the dress she had bought the night before. There had not been any time for her and Cal to talk after the kiss they shared on Wednesday night. She thought back and felt herself smile…

"_So love, does this mean we are abolishing the bloody line?"_ The hopeful look in his eyes as he toyed with her hair and grasped her hand had sent a wave of chills up her spine.

She had smiled sweetly at him. _"Yes Cal. The line, in its current form, is hereby abolished. But we do need to talk."_

"_And we will Gill. I have so much I've been dying to say to you. It's late tonight and I'll be out all day tomorrow with that Lockheed business. How about after the Christmas party? Meet me in my office?"_

"_I would love to." _Cal had put his arms around her and squeezed her tight.

"_You have no idea how happy I am at this very moment."_ Cal pulled back from her slightly and gave her a skeptical look. _"You aren't going to change your mind by Friday night are you? Cause_ _I can blow off these people tomorrow and give you the whole day if you'd rather."_

"_No way Cal! That is a big account! You will most certainly not blow them off." _ She had stopped abruptly when she saw the look on his face. She then realized she had addressed the business issue but had flown past his question about Friday night. _"I'm sorry." _She grabbed his hands. _ "I feel like we have waited so long to acknowledge anything… it may take some getting used to." S_he smiled at him_ "I'm looking forward to Friday night and there is no way in hell I'll change my mind, okay?"_

… That had reassured him. They shared another deep kiss and then said goodnight. Yesterday had been weird for her. She envied him the chance to be out of the office. Even though she knew no one was aware of this shift in their relationship, she felt as if it were written all over her face. She had spent most of the day hiding under a pile of paperwork in her office. The few phone calls she and Cal shared had left her gut a quivering mess. What she always considered butterflies in her stomach at the start of a relationship were more like giant pterodactyls rooting around in there. It seemed like a major precipice, and she could hardly wait to see where they would go from here.

* * *

Gillian returned to the building just as the party started. She put her coat and purse in her office. When she approached the main hall, she saw Cal by the entrance to the conference room. He looked at her and smiled. Her hair was swept up with a few loose pieces hanging around her face. He licked his lips as he took her in from head to toe. She was wearing a sleeveless, deep red dress with a plunging neckline. He nodded his approval and raised his eyebrows at her. She smiled shyly and felt a blush creep up her cheeks. _'Well, obviously I picked the right dress.'_

Just as Gillian and Cal were making their way to each other, she was stopped by Ben. After chatting for a few moments, she looked back to where she had seen Cal, but he was no longer there. This went on for the entire party. Looks shared across the room, but they could never get within two feet of each other. Hazard of being the bosses; everyone wanted a little of your time.

Emily came up to Gillian early in the evening and gave her a hug. "You have no idea how happy my Dad is right now. Thank you so much Gillian."

Gillian felt her eyes start tingling as if she could cry.

Emily leaned in close and said "See, I always knew he was happier when he was with you."

Gillian opened her mouth to say something. But the words weren't there. She took a small breath as Emily smiled and walked away. She stood there for what couldn't have been more than a few seconds with thoughts of looks, touches, small gestures and not so small gestures flashing through her mind. _'Just how long have we both unknowingly felt this way. And how could we be the only ones who couldn't see it?'_

Around 10:30, people started to leave. Cal and Gillian ended up in the foyer together handing out Christmas 'bonus' checks and saying goodnight to everyone. Once they had sent everyone home, they retired to Cal's office.

Gillian slipped off her shoes and settled on one end of Cal's couch with her feet tucked under her. Cal slipped off his jacket and laid it over his desk chair. He then sat facing her on the couch. They stared at each other for a few moments before Cal bent forward and kissed her gently on the lips. He leaned back slightly to look at her face. "I've wanted to do that all night."

Gillian smiled. "I've wanted you to do that all night."

Cal looked down at her dress and back up to her face. "You look absolutely gorgeous in that dress, well you look gorgeous in anything, but you look…" he let his eyes travel down the length of her and back up again "stunning."

She felt the blush spread through her. The intensity of the look on his face overwhelmed her and she drew in a ragged breath while averting her eyes.

He quickly leaned forward and cupped her cheeks with his hands. He gently brought her eyes back to meet his. "Don't be embarrassed Gill. You have no reason to be. You are the most beautiful woman; inside and out, that I have ever known. And I'm having trouble believing that I can be this close to you and kiss you and touch you… I keep waiting for the slap to come or to wake up and find this is a dream."

She put her hands over his. "If this is a dream, then I don't think I ever want to wake up." She leaned in to capture his lips in a kiss. Cal's hands made their way to her waist and her arms wound around his neck. He suddenly threw himself back so that he was leaning against the other end of the couch, dragging her with him. When they finally parted lips they were both breathing heavily. Gillian moved her arms down around his torso. She was lying on her side between his legs with her head on his chest. Cal's arms were wrapped around her and he was softly stroking her right arm.

Gillian was the first to speak after several minutes. "Does this feel as right to you as it does to me?"

Cal chuckled. "You mean how perfectly we fit together?" He felt her nod her head. "I knew it would be this way."

Gillian raised her head and looked at him with wide eyes.

Cal pulled her up so their faces were even. "I felt connected to you that first time we met in your office. I knew then there was something special there. I didn't look at it in this way" he motioned his hands back and forth between them "back then. I was married, you were married… I just thought we had a natural connection."

Gillian nodded her head in agreement. She had felt that too. "That's why you asked me to work with you; to be your partner."

Cal grinned. "That's why I practically begged you to come be my partner." He took her hand. "I was afraid you were going to say no."

Gillian looked down at their hands. "I almost did." She looked back at him. "Alec wasn't comfortable with it. He thought I was taking a big risk leaving my steady, boring job at the Pentagon to jump into the unknown."

Cal rolled his eyes. "The schmuck."

Gillian took a deep breath and went to speak twice but couldn't seem to find the words. Cal studied her face and then said "You want to know when I knew…"

She looked up at him, surprised that he knew where her thoughts had gone. She slowly nodded her head.

"Well… that's a tough one." He resituated himself on the couch so they were once again facing each other. "I had never looked at you this way. I mean I thought you were a beautiful, intelligent, and passionate woman but…" he paused to gather his thoughts. "We were both married and as much of a bastard as I can be at times, I would never have cheated on Zoe."

Gillian remained quiet. He had told her he had a lot he wanted to say and she planned to let him say it.

"I think things started changing for me some time after my divorce was final. I mean you know how hard that was for me, Zoe leaving… As much of a playboy as you think I might be-"

"Cal! I never said-"

"You didn't have to! I know! I wanted; I needed you to see that I was moving on. You did so much for me during that time and I was such a mess…anyway" he looked in her eyes. "To answer your question." He took a breath. "The wedding of the Ambassador's son. I finally saw, first hand, the shit that Alec was putting you through."

Gillian made to protest but he put his fingers in front of her mouth in a shushing gesture. "Hold on love. Let me finish." She nodded her head and closed her lips tightly.

"I knew things weren't right with you two. I'd been seeing it for months. It just became blatantly obvious after that day. I didn't say anything to you because of our bloody line. But, I saw it." Cal squeezed her hand. "When you walked away from me in the parking lot that night after saying you were going to make it up to him because that's what married people do… I felt that longing to protect you then. I think it just kept building after that." They stared at each other for a few moments. Cal continued. "During the Jenkins case was when I realized it might be more than just a need to protect you." Gillian saw him get lost in a thought for a few seconds. She went to speak, but then he started again. "When I saw you lying on the road, having just been attacked it felt like someone ripped my heart out. I wanted to hold you and not let go. By that point, I knew about the drugs and I knew things weren't right between you and Alec." He looked back into her eyes. "It wasn't long after that you told me you were splitting up."

Gillian looked at him, confused. "But, you never said anything, or did anything... I didn't know you felt that way."

"I wanted to give you time love. I knew it would be important for you to stand on your own two feet; to have time to get your heart back in its right place." He looked sad for a second. "Then the sandwich shop thing happened… and I thought the timing would be bad…"

"I saw it on your face, at your house. When you and Emily were taking care of me, I saw it. Just for a second. But, I thought it was just that you cared about me. I told myself you were my best friend and of course you loved me." Gillian looked at him sadly.

"It's okay love. I was in love with you then, but I thought it wouldn't be the best time to tell you, you know" he waved his hands around "with everything that was going on." Cal's face went slack. "Then Noah was in the picture… and he seemed to make you happy." He looked at her. "All I wanted was for you to be happy."

Gillian felt the tears in her eyes. "Cal, I'm sorry-"

"Whoa, whoa, what are you apologizing for? I missed that boat. The timing wasn't right. But, it's okay. I think we have it figured out now, don't we?" He smiled at her and then wrapped his arms around her.

Gillian had tears in her eyes. She hugged him as tightly as she could. She mumbled "I love you, Cal" into his shoulder. Then she pushed him back and looked him in the face. "I do love you. I think I have in here" she patted her chest "for a very long time. It just took a while for it to reach here." She tapped the side of her head.

He smiled at her. "Well, I'm just glad it finally made the long journey!"

She slapped him playfully and he winced for good measure. They kissed each other again, another long, sweet, slow kiss. When he pulled away, he put his hands on either side of her face. "I love you Gillian."

She smiled at him. "I love you, Cal."

**TBC**

**This was the chapter to bring them together. Now a few more to tie up loose ends and answer some questions. I hope this was worth the wait… And thank you for sticking with me. **


	38. Chapter 38

**Well, here is the next chapter. I'm excited to finally be nearing the end of this saga. One or two more chaps at the most… I promise to work on the next one this weekend. I make no promises of when I will post though (I mean seriously-look at my posting track record! I suck!) I have it all planned out in my head. Just need to get it on my computer!**

**Once again I have to thank you for still reading! Enjoy!**

The weekend was one of the best Gillian could remember. She and Cal spent every spare moment together. They had decided to take things slow, and although it would have been easy to jump right into bed together, Cal had been adamant. He didn't want Gillian to feel like another notch on his bed post. Gillian could only smile when he pointed out that she loved romance and he intended to "romance her pants off." Cal had held doors open for her, helped her on and off with her coat and even bought her a rose from a street vendor when they had gone out to dinner on Saturday. This was a side to him Gillian had never seen and she decided she enjoyed it very much!

Emily was thrilled when they told her on Saturday that they were 'officially' dating. She was disappointed when they said they were going to keep it quiet for now. They had a company to run and they wanted to see how this new dynamic would affect things before they let their employees know.

* * *

Monday morning as Gillian left her apartment she found a single red rose lying on her welcome mat. She smiled and shook her head. _'A girl could get very spoiled like this Dr. Lightman.' _As she approached her car, she saw another rose on her windshield. She gathered that one and put both of them on her car seat. She couldn't contain her smile as she drove to the office.

Cal was proud of himself for his early start on a Monday morning. This was highly unusual behavior for him. He was going to have to be careful or his staff would catch on that he and Gillian had finally come to their senses. He stopped at the Starbucks just up from the office and got Gillian's Gingerbread latte and his morning tea. He hoped he would beat her in so he could leave the coffee on her desk.

Cal pulled into the garage and was pleased to see Gillian's spot still empty. He grabbed the two cups and headed in. As Cal came down the main hall, he saw Heidi at the front desk.

"Good morning Dr. Lightman. You're here early for a Monday!" Heidi was staring at him as if he had two heads.

Cal nearly let the cat out of the bag but then quickly schooled himself and put his usual mask on. "Don't get used to it, love. I promise it won't be a regular thing." He continued past without stopping. He quickly went into Gillian's office and put her coffee on her desk. He then made his way to the lab.

Gillian parked her car in the spot next to Cal's. It was strange for her to be arriving later than Cal _'but then he obviously had a busy morning.'_ She smiled as she looked at the roses on her car seat. She decided to leave them in the car. If she brought them in there would be questions about where they came from; questions she wasn't ready to answer. She was deliriously happy when she saw the Starbucks cup on her desk. She put down her purse and immediately scooped up the cup. It was still hot, and it was her favorite. _'Why, again, did we wait so long?' _

Cal burst through Gillian's office door. "Good morning, love. Have a good sleep?" He was smiling widely. He inched his way in to her personal space.

Gillian smiled in return. "Why, yes I did. How about you? Did you have a good sleep?"

"Not bad." He leaned in close and uttered in a low voice. "Not as good as I'll sleep when the woman I love is curled up naked beside me." He purposely stood close and didn't back away.

Gillian immediately flushed at the comment. "Cal!" She shoved him lightly, knocking him off balance, and he laughed. "Thank you." Gillian raised her cup. "You know how to spoil a woman. I might get too used to all of this."

"As well you should, love. You deserve to be treated like a queen." Cal leaned in and snuck a quick kiss. As he turned to leave, she gave a little pout. He grinned at her recognizing her frustration as he was feeling it himself. "Tell me about it. I have a feeling I'll be spending a lot of time behind my desk."

They both laughed. "Torres and I are back out to Lockheed today to catch the employees we missed."

"Okay. I have the meeting with the Congressman from Virginia at 10:00." Gillian glanced down at her calendar. "Then I'll be here doing those reports from last week."

Call pushed through the door. "I have my cell phone, if you need me."

* * *

Gillian arrived back at the office shortly after 1pm. She was starving and happy to see bagels still in the bakery box in the break room. She dropped her bag and her coat in her office and headed back to the kitchen. After toasting her bagel and adding cream cheese, she grabbed a cup of coffee and quickly headed back out into the hallway. As soon as she stepped her foot out, she ran right into Ben Reynolds.

"Whoa there, Gillian!" Reynolds saw her before she saw him and he grabbed the arm holding her coffee and steadied it. "Is the kitchen on fire?"

Gillian jumped slightly in surprise. "Oh!" She righted herself. "I'm so sorry Ben! I wasn't even paying attention."

Ben chuckled. He let go of her as soon as she was balanced. "That's okay. No harm, no foul."

Gillian smiled at him. "Cal is out with Ria, if that's who you're looking for. They'll probably be a while longer. Is there something I can help you with?"

"Actually, I came to pick up a file I left here on Friday." He turned so he could walk beside her down the hallway to her office. "But, I do need to talk to you."

Gillian was studying his face. He looked uncomfortable. "What is it Ben? Is everything okay?"

He raised his eyebrows and gave her a pained grin. "Uh… Yeah. Everything is okay." He raised a bag up he was holding. "Uh… this is for you."

Gillian looked at the bag. "For me?" At Ben's nod she asked "from you?" Ben didn't answer verbally. His eyes got wide, he shook his head and the same pained grin went across his face. Gillian shook her head mimicking him. "Not from you."

She stepped into her office and he followed. She sat her coffee and bagel on her desk and reached for the bag. Ben pulled it away. "Just so you know; I don't know what's in it. I promised I wouldn't look."

Gillian smiled slightly. '_Something else from Cal?' _"I'll keep that in mind." She took the bag and sat it on her desk deciding to wait to open it when she was alone. God knows what Cal would put in there.

Ben clasped his hands behind his back. "Uh, I was told I couldn't leave without an answer. So, you need to open it with me here."

"An answer?" Gillian gave him a strange look. "To what?"

"I'm assuming you'll understand when you open it." Ben said as he nodded toward the bag.

Gillian took a deep breath. Surely Cal wouldn't have her open something embarrassing in front of Ben. _'Would he?'_

Gillian cautiously opened the bag. She peeked inside to see a white fluffy teddy bear. She pulled it out to see that it was wearing a tiny Duke, Blue Devils sweatshirt. It was so cute. It instantly had her smiling. There was a note pinned to it. She saw her name printed on the front. She opened the note and it read: _'Gillian, Hope you enjoy the fluffy friend! Just wondering if you had time to think about the game and whether or not you would like to go with me. Dinner first, you pick the place. Brian Gavin'_

Gillian dropped the bear and put her hands over her face. "Oh my God, Ben! I completely forgot to call him about the game!"

Ben laughed. "Yeah, I gathered that. He is really persistent. He's been asking me every day. I keep forgetting to mention it to you. I guess he thought by sending this we would both remember to give him an answer."

"Oh, I feel terrible!" Gillian sat down on her chair. What was she going to say? No one knew about her and Cal. She had to get out of this without saying anything about him.

"Gillian?" Ben snapped her attention back. "You don't have to go…"

She was scrambling with what to say "I just… I'm not… I don't think…"

Ben felt sorry for her. "It's okay. I can tell him it's too soon and you just aren't ready. I told him he should back off all ready, but he's like a lovesick puppy."

Gillian wasn't sure why, but that comment made her feel uncomfortable. She hardly knew Brian Gavin and had never even had a conversation with him. "Would you please Ben? I'm really **not** ready for that right now." Gillian put the bear back in the bag and handed it back to Ben. He wouldn't take it.

"Oh no! He said no matter what, he wanted you to keep the bear." Ben walked to the door. "I'll tell him to back off and that when you're ready you'll call him."

"Thank you Ben." They smiled at each other and Ben left.

Gillian took the bear out of the bag again. _'It is a very cute bear and it is wearing a Duke sweatshirt.' _She walked over and propped it on one of her book shelves.

* * *

On Tuesday morning, Gillian found roses on her doorstep and her car again. _'How long can he keep this up?' _ When she reached the parking garage, Cal's car was there. _'Two days in a row he gets here before me? I think this is a record.'_ Once again she left the roses in her car.

When Gillian got into the office, Cal was nowhere to be seen. She said good morning to Heidi and made her way to her office. She was happy to see a Starbucks cup on her desk. She hung her coat up and put her purse away. She sat down to enjoy her coffee.

Cal had been watching for Gillian from the lab. He loved to watch her when she didn't know he was there. She smiled so sweetly when she saw the coffee and the look of sheer delight when she finally tasted it made Cal's insides tingle. _'She is so bloody gorgeous.' _

Cal made his way into her office and gave her a smile. "Enjoying the latte, love?"

Gillian looked up from her desk with a huge smile. "Absolutely! Cal, you really have to stop spoiling me. I might come to expect it."

Cal made his way around her desk and enveloped her in a hug as she stood. "You deserve it. Actually you deserve more."

"Thank you." Gillian looked away from him.

"What's that love?" Cal leaned over sideways to meet her eyes. "You don't think you deserve it."

She looked back at him. "No Cal, I just… it's just… I'm not used to it. It's nice to know someone is thinking about you when you aren't with them." She put her arms around him and hugged him tight. He returned the hug and then planted a sweet kiss on her lips.

Cal turned to go, but stopped when he saw the teddy bear on her shelf. "New friend?"

Gillian followed his eyes. "Oh. Well, remember the Agent friend of Reynolds?" At Cal's nod she continued explaining the visit from Reynolds the previous day. She made sure to tell him that she had said no to the basketball game but he had insisted she keep the bear.

Cal showed a little jealousy. "You know I'm the jealous type…"

"I know honey and I tried to give it back. But, he wouldn't take it. It's very cute. I wouldn't have kept it but it **is** wearing a Duke sweatshirt…"

Cal laughed as he exited her office. Over his shoulder he yelled "Lunch later?"

* * *

The next morning, Gillian exited her house to find another red rose on her welcome mat. She shook her head. _'Wow, Cal. You weren't kidding about romancing me!' _She picked up the rose and went back inside to stick it in the vase with the others. Then she left again. When she approached her car she found another rose on the windshield. _'Ugh. I don't have time to go back in the house! I'll be late!' _She scooped up the flower and put it in the car.

Gillian pulled into the parking garage and noticed Cal's car wasn't there. He must have gone home after leaving the roses at her place. _'Or maybe he was later this morning and is getting me coffee again.' _She smiled at the thought and made her way in to the office.

Gillian approached the front desk as she heard Heidi say "Yes sir. I'll let her know." Heidi smiled at Gillian. "That was Dr. Lightman. Agent Reynolds called him early this morning and he went straight to Federal lockup to assist the FBI with a new case. He wanted me to let you know." Heidi saw the confused look on Gillian's face. "He said he had just tried to call your cell phone, but you didn't answer."

Gillian reached in her pocket and then her purse. No cell phone. _'Where is it?' "_Thank you Heidi." Gillian headed back to her car. She found her cell phone on the floorboard of the driver's side. She picked it up and saw the missed call she assumed was from Cal. It was a number she didn't recognize. She pushed the button and waited to hear his message.

"Hello love. I just have a second. I've been with Ben since about 4:30 this morning. Just took a break to call and let you know where I am. Not sure how long I'll be. Sorry you won't have coffee waiting this morning. I'll make it up to you though. Bye love." Gillian could hear the smile in his voice on that last part. She tucked her phone into her coat pocket and headed into the office. She was confused about the roses and how they got to her place this morning. _'Maybe he put them there last night? Sneaky!'_ She made a mental note to ask him about it later.

* * *

Cal called just before 11am and advised Gillian that the FBI was bringing two possible witnesses from the case he was working on to the Lightman Group for questioning. The FBI was convinced they were lying for the suspect and wanted help disproving their claims.

Gillian got Loker and Ria together and briefed them on the case. The three of them were ready when the FBI arrived. It took almost 3 hours to break the two of them but they had been successful. Gillian headed to her office and called Ben with the results while Loker worked on the videos and Ria worked on the case report.

At 3pm, Heidi came to Gillian's office with the most beautiful bouquet of red roses. They were in a crystal vase with a red velvet ribbon tied around it. Gillian took the card off as Heidi set them down. Without thinking, she opened the card with Heidi still standing there. _'To Gillian, with love.' _

"Who are they from?" Heidi was trying to peer over Gillian's shoulder.

"I don't know." Gillian lied. "The card doesn't say." She handed it to Heidi, thankful that Cal didn't put his name. That would have been awkward.

* * *

Cal called a few hours later. Gillian smiled when she saw the caller ID. "Hello Cal."

"Hey love. Heard you guys cracked the witnesses." Cal was driving back to the office.

"Yes we did. Loker uploaded all the interviews to a disc and Ria completed the report for the FBI file. All done on your end?"

"Yep. Just heading back. Traffic is a bear though might take me a bit. Want to grab some dinner? I seem to remember I have some making up to do." Cal had a devilish grin on his face that he knew Gillian could hear on her end of the phone.

"Dinner sounds lovely, but you don't have any making up to do. The coffee and the roses every morning, and the lovely bouquet of roses this afternoon, you didn't have to do any of that, but thank you. It was all so sweet." There was silence on the other end of the phone. "Cal, are you there?"

"Uh, yeah I'm here Gill. Did you say roses?" The hair stood up on the back of Cal's neck. He hadn't given her any roses.

**TBC**


	39. Chapter 39

"Yes, roses." Gillian thought for a second and then felt her stomach flip. "Oh God. They weren't from you." She stood up, suddenly aware that it was after 5:00 and she was most likely alone in the office.

"No love, they weren't." Cal's thoughts started racing. He needed to get to Gillian now. He could hear the panic in her voice. "Gillian, I need you to tell me about the roses." Keeping her talking would help keep her calm until he could get to her.

Gillian explained where she had found them each morning. She told him what the card had said. Cal told her to stay at the office and he would meet her there as soon as he could get through the traffic. He then told her he was going to call Ben and Noah and then he would call her right back. Cal had no reason to believe Gillian was in any immediate danger but he had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach that was telling him he needed to act quickly. His gut instinct had never let him down before so he was definitely going to listen to it.

Cal called Noah Parker. He felt awkward doing that now that he and Gillian had gotten together. But he **was** the lead detective on the sandwich shop case and he also knew Noah would do anything to help catch the bastard that had hurt Gillian.

Noah saw Cal's name on the caller ID and instantly knew something must be wrong. Not bothering to say hello, he answered quickly "Cal, what's wrong?"

Cal explained everything about the roses and Noah said he would check a few things out and then meet him at the Lightman Group as soon as possible.

Cal then called Ben. He explained what was happening and asked if Ben could meet him at the office. After Cal hung up, he thought for a minute. Loker rides the Metro home and was probably still walking there since it was just after 5. Cal quickly called him. He could get back to the office faster than anyone else since he would be on foot and not have to deal with the traffic.

Loker felt his phone vibrate. He grabbed it out of his pocket. "Yes, Dr. Lightman?"

"How far are you from the office?"

Cal was talking so quickly Loker almost didn't understand him. "I just got to the Metro station, so a few blocks, why?"

"I need you to get back there as quickly as you can. I don't have time to explain everything, but Gillian might be in trouble. I need you to get to her and stay with her until I can get there okay?"

Loker had all ready turned and was starting to run back in the direction of the office. "I'm on my way."

* * *

Gillian stepped out of her office into the hallway. She held her phone tightly in her hand waiting for Cal to call back. _'Relax Gillian. You're safe in here.' _She knew the back entrance to the offices was locked all the time. Someone would have to have an access card to get in through there. The front doors were open until the last person to leave each night put in a special code that secured them electronically. Once secured this way, no one without an access card could get in. Gillian was still here which meant the doors would still be unlocked. _'Step number one; lock the front doors.'_

Gillian walked through the empty halls hoping to find someone else there. She looked into the lab, the back offices and the break room. Everyone was gone. As she rounded the corner by the waiting room she heard the front door open. She stopped abruptly waiting to see who came around the corner.

She sighed in relief when she saw Agent Gavin. "Agent Gavin. Agent Reynolds isn't here."

Brian Gavin just smiled at her. "I'm not here to see Ben. I'm here to see you, Gillian."

Gillian felt an overwhelming urge to run, but she couldn't figure out why. Her intuition was telling her something was wrong and she didn't quite understand the look on Agent Gavin's face. She felt herself backing away from him. "Me?"

Agent Gavin walked slowly toward her. "Yes, you. I was hoping you would reconsider going to the basketball game with me tonight."

It hit her as she was listening to him. **THAT** was the voice. _'No that can't be the voice. He's an Agent.'_ Gillian could feel the panic setting in. Her heart was racing. She turned slightly and started to walk back toward her office even though she knew he would follow. _'Stall, you need to stall him. Cal is on the way. Just stay calm.' _"I'm really sorry Agent Gavin. We've had a lot going on here today and there is some paperwork I need to finish up that really can't wait until tomorrow."

Agent Gavin started walking behind her. "Please call me Brian." He had caught up to her and they were walking side by side now. "Is that the real reason? Or are you _not ready_ as Ben told me?"

Gillian detected the sarcasm in his voice. "Well, Brian, both reasons would be accurate, honestly." She could feel her skin crawling the closer he got to her. _'Relax Gillian. You can't let him know you realize who he is.' _She had her cell phone in her hand. She tried to nonchalantly play with it to see if she could hit the speed dial for Cal. She pushed the button but couldn't tell if the call had gone through or not.

"Why couldn't you just say yes? Why couldn't you make this easier for both of us?"

Gillian looked at him and instantly knew she was in trouble. "What do you mean, Brian?" _'Use his name. Connect with him. That will make it harder for him to do whatever it is he's thinking about doing.'_

"I know you know who I am Gillian." He grabbed her arm and turned her toward him. "Dr. Foster; Voice expert."

Gillian gasped and tried to pull away from him. He grabbed her with his other hand. She tried to push him away and ended up dropping her phone. She was screaming at him. "No! Let go of me!" He shoved her against the wall.

"Stop fighting me! You're just making this more difficult!" He used his body weight to hold her against the wall. He held both of her wrists in his one hand and reached into his pocket with the other. Gillian continued to fight him and scream. He pulled her forward and slammed her back hard against the wall. He braced himself against her again and opened the plastic baggie that he had pulled out of his pocket. He threw the baggie on the ground and pressed the cloth that had been inside it hard against her face. "That's it pretty lady. Breathe it in."

The pungent, sweet smell reached her nostrils and Gillian knew just what he was doing. He was going to knock her out. She couldn't let that happen. She fought as hard as she could. She tried to hold her breath. She felt her arms and legs go numb. Everything got blurry and she could hear Agent Gavin talking but she could no longer understand what he was saying. Then everything went black.

* * *

Cal had just gotten off the phone with Loker when his phone rang. Gillian's smiling face flashed on his screen. "Hey love."

All he could hear was her screaming. He yelled into the phone "Gillian! Gillian!" He heard a man's voice, the rustling of clothing, and then footsteps on the floor. A few seconds later he heard a door opening and closing. He strained to hear anything else. A few seconds passed and then he heard Loker yelling for Gillian.

* * *

Loker ran as fast as he could back to the office. As soon as he got through the main doors and turned down the hall toward Gillian's office, he saw a cell phone on the floor. "Gillian! Gillian where are you?"

He ran to the cell phone and picked it up. He could hear yelling. "Dr. Lightman?"

"Loker! Whoever has her, they just left out the door closest to where you are! I think he knocked her out somehow so he'll be carrying her. Go find her! I'm a few blocks away and Ben should be there any second!"

Loker ran toward the back door, which was closest to where he was in the hallway. He pushed the door open and listened. He could hear someone going down the steps. He yelled "Hey!"

Just then Ben came around the corner. Loker yelled at him. "Ben! Over here! He took her down these steps. I can hear him!" Loker took off through the door and headed down the steps. Ben ran over and went through the door.

Loker was yelling for Gillian and telling the man to stop and to leave her alone and anything else he could think of to yell. Ben came and passed him on the stairwell. He had his gun drawn. Loker stepped aside.

They could still hear the person going down the steps. Ben was afraid to approach any faster. He didn't know what he was dealing with or what kind of shape Gillian was in. Quietly he asked "Loker, what the hell is going on?" They continued down the stairs following the noise.

Loker shrugged his shoulders. He whispered "I got a call from Lightman saying Gillian might be in trouble and to get back to the office. When I got here, I found Gillian's cell phone in the hall. Lightman was yelling for her. He said whoever got her had knocked her out and taken out the closest door. I'm pretty sure that's them." He pointed down the stairs.

"We can't let him get to the bottom with her." Ben thought for a second. _'Oh shit. Let me get this right.' _He yelled as loudly as he could "This is Agent Reynolds with the FBI! You need to stop where you are right now!" The noise on the stairs stopped. "Put your hands over the stair rail where I can see them!" The person was one floor below them now. It was quiet for a few seconds and then they heard footsteps quickly running lower. "He must have dropped her or he couldn't be moving that fast!"

Loker nodded in agreement. "You go after him and I'll get Gillian?"

"Wait for my ok." Ben took off. He rounded the next level and saw Gillian, she was lying motionless. He heard the door to the building open and he motioned Loker down. "She's here! I'm going after him!"

Loker practically dove down the stairs to get to Gillian. He knelt beside her and felt for a pulse. It was strong and steady. Loker pulled out his phone and tried to call for an ambulance but he had no signal.

Ben ran back up the stairs to them. "Is she okay?" He was out of breath.

Loker was turning Gillian so he could pick her up. "She has a pulse and she seems to be breathing fine. I tried to call an ambulance but I don't have any signal in this stairwell."

Ben pushed him aside. "Head back to the office and call an ambulance. I'll bring her up." He bent down and easily scooped Gillian up. Her arms hung like a rag dolls. Ben carefully carried Gillian up the two flights of stairs.

Loker ran back up the stairs. As soon as he got out of the stairwell he called 911. He then waited and held the door open for Ben. Gillian's office was the closest to them. Ben took her in there and carefully placed her on the couch. He then went into the hallway to make a few calls.

* * *

Cal pushed his way through the office door yelling "Loker! Loker!" He came around the corner just as Ben was crossing the hall with Gillian. He ran to her. He had his hands on her as soon as Ben put her down.

Loker let him know he had called an ambulance. "Her pulse is strong she's just out of it."

"What happened?" Cal was searching Gillian's face and arms. He could see redness and the beginnings of bruises.

"I'm not sure. She was unconscious when we got to her."

Ben came back into Gillian's office. He was holding a plastic Ziploc bag. "I think he used chloroform. I found this baggie under the bench in the hall. It smells sweet so I'm betting that's what it is."

Cal turned to Loker. "Pull up the video feed. I want to see who the hell that was!"

"Yes sir." Loker headed to the lab. As he crossed the hall, he saw Detective Parker coming in. "They're in Dr. Foster's office."

Noah thanked him and headed that way. He was shocked when he came in and saw Gillian unconscious. "Oh my God! What happened?"

"Someone tried to take her down the back steps but luckily Loker and Reynolds got here in time. We think he used chloroform to knock her out." Cal was holding Gillian's hand and stroking it lightly. "Gill? Come on love. Wake up for me."

"She's been out for almost 10 minutes. She should have come out of this by now." Ben was looking concerned. "I hope whoever made that concoction knew what they were doing and didn't give her enough to do any permanent damage. I'll go wait for the ambulance."

Cal continued talking to Gillian and rubbing her hand or arm or whatever he could to rouse her awake. "Noah, what did you find out?"

"I had the tech guys check the LPR's in Gillian's area-" Noah started but Cal interrupted.

"LPR's?"

Noah clarified. "License Plate Reader systems. The officer assigned to do the beat checks in Gillian's neighborhood was assigned one. Luckily he is meticulous and does his checks at the start of the shift every day. That puts him there between 6:45 and 7:00. He read the plates on the street Monday and Tuesday. I had both days run. Five tags were on her street on Monday that didn't return as being registered in the area, two on Tuesday. Two of the tags were there both days. One tag returns to the local newspaper delivery man and the other is a rental tag that comes back not on file when it's run through DMV. I've requested an off line check. They'll call me when it comes back."

"Where's the bloody ambulance?" Cal was getting agitated. "Come on Gill. Wake up for me love. I really need you to wake up."

Gillian began to stir a little. "Gill? That's it love. Come on, open your eyes."

Gillian opened her eyes. Everything was blurry and she felt sick to her stomach. She felt someone touching her arms. Then she heard Cal's voice. "Cal?" She tried to sit up and move but her body wasn't cooperating.

"Right here love. I'm right here. Don't move, just relax. The ambulance should be here any second."

Gillian was shaking her head. "No. No, no, no. No ambulance."

Ben came in right then with the paramedics in tow. Cal tried to reassure her. "Gill, they're here, just let them check you out."

"No, we need to leave Cal. He's here!" Gillian started fighting him trying to get up. She stopped abruptly. "I'm gonna be sick." She grabbed her stomach. Ben and Noah backed out of the office to give her some privacy but not before Ben handed Cal Gillian's trash can. As soon as it was in front of her, her stomach wretched and she vomited. The paramedics pushed their way to her and Cal moved for them.

Gillian kept trying to get up as the two paramedics tried to keep her still. They asked her questions about what happened but she couldn't seem to focus. A third paramedic asked Cal what happened. He explained what he knew and that he thought the abductor had used chloroform on her. The paramedic asked if she could have hit her head as she was exhibiting signs of a concussion. Cal had no idea.

"Cal? Cal?" Gillian was getting frantic. She kept saying they needed to leave and that he was there.

Cal knelt down next to her again. He was confused but he kept trying to reassure her. "I'm right here, love. I'm not leaving. Please let them help you."

Ben and Loker came in. They motioned for Cal to come over to them. Loker explained the video. It appeared the person who had tried to take Gillian was Agent Gavin. He had thrown her against the wall pretty violently.

"Agent Gavin?" Cal looked at Ben. "Your mate? He's the one that attacked her tonight?"

Ben shook his head. "Yeah. Plain as day on the video."

Noah stuck his head in the door. "That tag comes back in a grouping being used by the DEA task force."

"Cal?" Gillian called to him again. She had heard them talking.

Cal went to her side and took her hand. "Right here."

"Cal it's him. It's Agent Gavin! He's the voice from the sandwich shop. It's him."

Cal, Ben, and Noah exchanged looks. The puzzle pieces were coming together.

**TBC**

**Who figured it out? **

**One more chapter, just to put a nice neat bow on everything… I'll be posting it on #LietoMeLives day.**

**Sincere thanks to all of you still reading! **


	40. Chapter 40

**The final chapter… it's been a long time coming. The perfect day to bring it to a close. **

**Happy #LietoMelives Day!**

Gillian refused to go with the paramedics to the hospital. They had looked her over and given her plenty of oxygen which had done the job of bringing her out her chloroform induced haze. They weren't convinced she didn't have a concussion, but Gillian insisted she was fine and promised to go to the hospital if any of the numerous things they rattled off at her happened. Agent Gavin was out there and she didn't feel safe anywhere. That wasn't exactly true… she didn't feel safe anywhere that Cal wasn't.

The puzzle had finally come together. Cal had called Ria back in and they had all met in the conference room. Loker showed them the video of Gillian's abduction and they looked at the video of the sandwich shop again. It was definitely Agent Gavin that had stopped the younger man from killing Gillian. She hadn't known him well enough to put that together then. He had seen her at the Lightman Group and had asked Ben about her on more than a few occasions, but she had never even been introduced to him. Ben tried to apologize for being the reason Agent Gavin was in their lives, but Cal and Gillian wouldn't hear it. If Gavin hadn't known her and taken a liking to her, she might not be alive right now. He would have had no reason to stop his partner from killing her.

Agent Gavin had been in Court during the first suspect's trial. He had been near the court room doors when Gillian thought she had heard the suspect's voice. They hadn't considered him to be the suspect since Ben knew and worked with him. Ben had trusted him has a fellow law enforcement officer and it had been through him, innocently, that Gavin had found out Gillian's address, her fondness for basketball, that she was a Duke University alumna, and that she and Noah had been out of town that weekend.

Noah and Ben had given the information on Gavin to all the local and Federal agencies. Everyone was looking for him. They both promised to call if they heard anything about his whereabouts or if he was caught. Gillian had given Noah a written statement. There was nothing else any of them could do for now except keep her safe. The FBI sent the agents that had been with her for weeks back to the office. They would be with her night and day, again, until Gavin was found.

* * *

Everyone had left the Lightman Group except Cal and Gillian and her two watchdog agents. As soon as everyone had left, Cal and Gillian had gravitated to Cal's office. They both sat down on the couch and Gillian scooted over against him.

"How you doing love?" Cal wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

Gillian took in a deep breath. "Honestly, I'm not sure." She snuggled further against him. "Everything has been so crazy for the last few hours and my adrenaline has been running so high… I don't think it's all hit me yet." She took in another deep breath, this one shakier than the first.

Cal didn't say anything. He just gave her shoulders a squeeze and reached and took hold of her other hand. He held it for a few moments and then traced along the dark reddish marks on her forearm that would surely be turning purple by morning.

"I fought him." Her voice was quiet almost as if she was talking to herself. "I fought him as hard as I could. But, he was so strong…" She sat up straight and pulled away from Cal. She was staring at the floor. "I smelled the rag as he brought it up and I tried not to breathe." She put her hand on her face mimicking the way Gavin had done it. "He held it against my face so tight and I could feel myself going numb and everything was blurry." She wrapped her arms around her middle. "I was so scared Cal."

He reached up and placed his hand on her back gently. He wanted to reassure her that he was there without pushing himself on her and yet still allow her any boundaries she felt she needed. "I know love. I was scared too. I could hear the panic and fear in your voice."

Gillian turned to him surprised. "You heard me? How?"

"You called. My phone rang and I saw it was you but when I answered, all I could hear was you screaming." Cal shook his head as if he was trying to shake the feeling away. "I don't believe I've ever felt so helpless in my life."

"Oh God Cal, I didn't know the call went through. I'm so sorry." She turned toward him suddenly more concerned for the pain she caused him than she was for her own pain.

"Don't apologize Gill. If you hadn't managed to call, I wouldn't have heard what was going on. I wouldn't have been able to tell Loker where to find you." He leaned over and put his arms around her. "No matter how hard it was for me to hear that; I thank God I did because it helped me get you back."

Gillian nodded her head as she put her arms around his waist and squeezed him tightly.

Cal pulled away and stood up. "Wait right here. I'll go and grab your coat and purse so we can get out of here."

Gillian jumped up quickly. "No!" She grabbed his hand. "I'll come with you. I don't want to be alone Cal, not right now." She gave him a look that was telling him she hoped he understood.

"Ok." Cal squeezed her hand and then let it go. He went and grabbed his jacket from his desk chair. He slipped it on and took her hand again. They walked hand in hand to her office.

Gillian went through the door first. She went and collected her purse while Cal pulled her coat off the coat rack. As he turned to help her put it on, he saw the Duke teddy bear. After her coat was around her, he went and took the bear off the shelf.

Gillian followed him with her eyes. "What are you doing?" Then she realized he was going for the teddy bear. "Ugh. As cute is that is, I don't want it."

Cal was squeezing it all over. He must have felt something because he asked "Where are your scissors?"

Gillian went to her desk, pulled out a pair of scissors and handed them to him. Cal used the scissors to cut open the back side of the bear. He reached in and pulled out a small device.

"It's a camera. A tiny camera. The lens is embedded in the bear's eye."

"A camera?" Gillian shook her head. "So he's been watching me for the past few days?" She visibly shuddered at the thought. "I need to check this office over." She frantically started pulling things off her shelves and looking around the room. She had gone into panic mode.

Cal grabbed her arms after trying several times to get her attention verbally. "Gill! Let's get out of here. We can have this whole office and your apartment checked thoroughly for anything suspicious before we open back up after the Holidays."

"People will be here tomorrow Cal! It might not be safe!"

"I closed us down until Monday. Friday was all ready a Holiday for Christmas Eve. Based on everything that's happened, I thought it would be better to keep everyone out of here until it's checked over. I had Loker and Torres notify all the employees." He pulled her into a hug. They stood there for a few minutes.

"Let's go love." Cal turned her in his arms and led her out of her office.

* * *

Cal had followed Gillian to her place so she could pack a bag. She left her car there and rode with him to his house. They had both decided it would be safer for her to stay there until Gavin was caught.

Emily had gone to Zoe's for the Holiday and wouldn't be home until late Christmas night. Cal did his best to keep Gillian distracted with Christmas in attempt to keep her mind off the fact that Gavin was still out there. He had taken her to the grocery store on Thursday and they had loaded up on everything for Christmas dinner and every dessert Gillian could think of.

Thursday evening and most of the day on Christmas, Gillian spent in the kitchen. Cal knew she liked to bake when she was upset or stressed so he left her to it. Most of the time he sat in the kitchen with her. He feigned working on his laptop and they discussed the book they had been working on but mostly he just watched her. It thrilled him to see her working in his kitchen like she was always supposed to have been there. He loved her reactions every time he made a smart remark about her sugar addiction or the fact that his kitchen now resembled Willie Wonka's Factory.

Cal hadn't truly enjoyed the Christmas season in a very long time but as he sat there smelling all the wonderful things Gillian was making and listening to Christmas music he found himself strangely happy and content. The only thing that could improve the situation was a call from the authorities saying they had caught Gavin.

Cal got his wish around 7pm. Ben called to tell him they had found Gavin at a rest stop off Interstate 95 in Florida. He had been sleeping in his car and had been taken into custody without incident. Cal felt sick to his stomach when Ben described the flex ties, rope, duct tape, and thick blankets they had found in his trunk. That was something Gillian didn't need to hear. She walked into the room right as he was ending the call.

"They got him Gill." Cal stood up from the couch and walked toward her.

Gillian's eyes widened. "They got him?" Cal nodded at her. "So, it's over?" He nodded again as he wrapped her in a hug. She said it again as if to convince herself "They got him. It's over." Gillian felt the tears run down her face. "It's over."

"It's over love."

* * *

Emily got home around 9pm. She found her Dad and Gillian cuddled together on the couch. She took out her camera and snapped a few pictures. Cal woke and saw her.

"Hey love. Merry Christmas." He gently rolled from under Gillian. He walked over and gave Emily a big hug.

"Merry Christmas, Dad." She backed away from him and looked at Gillian who remained asleep on the couch. "How long do you think she'll sleep? I mean, she's got months of lost sleep to catch up on."

Cal nodded his head. "Yeah, she does." He put his arm around Emily and led her into the kitchen. "Would you be terribly disappointed if we waited until tomorrow to do gifts? I don't have the heart to wake her just yet."

"Not at all, Dad. I'm actually beat. Mom's whole family was at Grandma and Grandpa's and they woke me up at 4am." Emily rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I was never that crazy on Christmas, was I?"

Cal laughed. "I seem to remember a few Christmases where Santa almost didn't come because a certain little miss would not go to sleep." He scruffed her hair and pulled her in for another hug. "And I also remember a few where Santa barely made it out of the house before you were up!" Now they were both laughing.

"Em. I want to thank you for everything you've done for me and Gillian. Even though you went against my wishes, I know your heart was in the right place." Cal walked over to the refrigerator and pulled an envelope from under a magnet. He handed it to Emily. "Here. Open this one."

Emily walked over and took the envelope. She opened it and pulled out the card. She immediately giggled. "So, you were paying attention?" She was staring down at her confirmation card for a lifetime subscription to Cosmopolitan Magazine.

"Always love. To every word. That advice was bloody brilliant!"

* * *

**And so it goes…**

**It has been a long ride and I am grateful for those of you that have stuck with me this entire time. I never imagined the fic idea I had back in January of 2010 would grow into the monstrosity it is now. 21 months I worked on this fic (not continuously of course or you would have had much regular updates!). I had doubts along the way that I would ever finish it… especially when the show was on the maybe list and then when they screwed with the Cal/Gillian dynamic in S3 and then after the cancelation… BUT-here it is! Marked complete!**

**I wasn't sure how to go with this last chapter. I ultimately decided that simplicity would be best since it has been a complicated series of things all the way through. I hope everyone is satisfied and at least somewhat entertained by the whole thing. I have enjoyed bringing it to life!**

**The reviews and comments were instrumental in keeping me going. Thank you to all who took the time to drop one and especially to those that I heard from on nearly every chapter. You guys rock!**

**I loved this show and these characters. I hope we can keep them going in fan fiction land for a very long time!**

**#LIETOMELIVES**


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